ArcelorMittal ready to capture EU market share from lower steel imports, CFO says

Nov 6 (Reuters) - ArcelorMittal will be able to capture part of the market vacuum resulting from lower imports once the EU's proposed steel quotas kick in, Chief Financial Officer Genuino Christino said on Thursday.

"The expectation is that imports will come down by about 40% in flat (steel) and it's no secret that our market share is about 30%, so we don't see any problems to make sure that we can capture that part of our market share," Christino said to analysts.

The European Commission proposed in October cutting tariff-free steel import quotas by almost half and adding a 50% duty for excess shipments in a bid to preserve viable steelmaking in the European Union, though it is still not clear when the new measures will come into place.

The current measures are set to expire in June 2026, but ArcelorMittal expects the European Parliament and Council will see the "urgency" of the matter and help with implementing them as soon as possible, Christino said.

The world's second largest steelmaker reported a better-than-expected third quarter profit earlier on Thursday helped by a strong performance in Europe and gave a positive outlook for 2026.