ArcelorMittal Q3 EBITDA Jumps 34% as Europe Improves

ArcelorMittal reported third-quarter 2026 EBITDA of $2.02 billion, up 34% year over year, as stronger European market conditions helped offset lower quarterly steel shipments and major charges related to its Ukrainian operations.

MONTREAL (SteelPrices): ArcelorMittal produced slightly more steel than a year earlier in the third quarter of 2026, but the bigger story was profitability: EBITDA rose 34% even as group shipments declined.

The steelmaker produced 13.7 million tonnes of crude steel during the quarter, down from 14.3 million tonnes in the second quarter but slightly above the 13.6 million tonnes produced in the third quarter of 2025.

For January-September, crude steel production totaled 41.3 million tonnes, down 3.5% from 42.8 million tonnes a year earlier.

Steel Shipments Fall, but Margins Improve

ArcelorMittal shipped 13.0 million tonnes of steel during the third quarter, down 3% from the previous quarter and 4.4% year over year.

Nine-month shipments totaled 39.2 million tonnes, compared with 41.0 million tonnes during the corresponding period of 2025.

Despite the lower shipment volumes, profitability improved sharply.

Third-quarter EBITDA reached $2.023 billion, up 34% from $1.508 billion a year earlier.

EBITDA per tonne increased to $155/t from $111/t in the third quarter of 2025, a gain of $44/t.

The result also exceeded ArcelorMittal's published sell-side consensus of $1.972 billion.

Europe Shows Early Improvement

ArcelorMittal said its European flat-steel shipments increased sequentially during the quarter, which was unusual given the normal seasonal slowdown during the summer period.

The company linked the improvement partly to the early impact of stronger European Union trade measures.

ArcelorMittal said the enhanced EU framework is reducing import penetration and supporting higher domestic capacity utilization.

Following implementation of the new tariff-rate quota system, the company said it had returned all of its European blast furnaces to operation.

Iron Ore Output Rises 9.2% Over Nine Months

Total Group iron ore production reached 12.6 million tonnes in the third quarter, down 6.7% from 13.5 million tonnes in the second quarter but up 4.1% from 12.1 million tonnes a year earlier.

For the first nine months of 2026, total Group iron ore production increased 9.2% year over year to 39.0 million tonnes, compared with 35.7 million tonnes in January-September 2025.

ArcelorMittal's iron ore production from AMMC and Liberia alone totaled 29.5 million tonnes during the nine-month period, up from 25.2 million tonnes a year earlier.

Ukraine Charges Push ArcelorMittal to a Net Loss

The stronger underlying operating performance did not translate into a reported quarterly net profit.

ArcelorMittal recorded a net loss attributable to shareholders of $391 million in the third quarter, compared with net income of $683 million in the second quarter and $377 million a year earlier.

The result included an $852 million impairment and $293 million in exceptional charges related to the idling of ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih in Ukraine.

The company also recorded a $170 million reduction in deferred tax assets following the idling of the Ukrainian operations.

Adjusted net income, which excludes these exceptional effects, reached $868 million, or approximately $0.9 billion, up from $683 million in the second quarter.

Cash Generation Remains Positive

ArcelorMittal generated $0.5 billion of underlying free cash flow during the first nine months of 2026 after investing $1.1 billion in strategic growth projects.

That figure excludes a temporary $2.5 billion investment in working capital, which the company expects to largely unwind during the fourth quarter.

Net debt increased to $10.3 billion at the end of September.

Liquidity remained at $8.7 billion, consisting of $3.2 billion of cash and cash equivalents and $5.5 billion of available credit lines.

The company returned $1.1 billion to shareholders through dividends and share buybacks during the first nine months.

European Growth Remains a Key Focus

ArcelorMittal expects European flat-steel shipment growth to accelerate during the fourth quarter, with a double-digit year-over-year increase.

The company said the full benefit of recent changes in Europe's steel-market environment should become more visible from 2027.

Higher European energy costs remain a headwind, but ArcelorMittal said steel prices are increasingly reflecting those costs while lower imports and more normalized inventories support the market.

Separately, the company continues to advance strategic investment projects, including projects in France and other major steel markets.

Sources: ArcelorMittal Q3 2026 results; GMK Center; Reuters.

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