ArcelorMittal SA Value Stock - Dividend - Research Selection

History and development of the Company

ArcelorMittal is the world’s leading integrated steel and mining company. Since the creation of ArcelorMittal in 2006 (through the combination of Mittal Steel and Arcelor) and continuing through 2008, ArcelorMittal pursued a disciplined growth strategy, with transactions in Argentina, Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, China, Estonia, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Poland, Russia, Slovakia, South Africa, Sweden, Turkey, the United Kingdom, Uruguay, United Arab Emirates, the United States and Venezuela. Beginning in the latter part of 2008, ArcelorMittal largely suspended mergers and acquisitions activity in light of the deteriorating economic and market environment, and sharply curtailed its investment activities, with the exception of the acquisition (along with a partner) of Baffinland in 2011.

Since September 2011, ArcelorMittal has been undergoing a deleveraging process to reduce its indebtedness including numerous divestments of non-core assets (see note 2.3 to the consolidated financial statements for the divestments made in 2014 and 2015). Despite ArcelorMittal’s overall strategy of deleveraging, the Company completed an acquisition through a 50/50 joint venture partnership of Calvert in 2014.

ArcelorMittal's success is built on its core values of sustainability, quality and leadership and the entrepreneurial boldness that has empowered its emergence as the first truly global steel and mining company. Acknowledging that a combination of structural issues and macroeconomic conditions will continue to challenge returns in its sector, the Company has adapted its footprint to the new demand realities, redoubled its efforts to control costs and repositioned its operations to outperform its competitors. ArcelorMittal’s research and development capability is strong and includes several major research centers as well as strong academic partnerships with universities and other scientific bodies.

Against this backdrop, ArcelorMittal's strategy is to leverage four distinctive attributes that will enable it to capture leading positions in the most attractive areas of the steel industry’s value chain, from mining at one end to distribution and first-stage processing at the other: global scale and scope; unmatched technical capabilities; a diverse portfolio of steel and related businesses, one of which is mining; and financial capabilities. The Company’s strategy is further detailed under “Item 4.B—Information on the Company—Business overview—Business strategy”.

Geography: ArcelorMittal is the largest steel producer in the Americas, Africa and Europe and is the fifth largest steel producer in the CIS region. ArcelorMittal has steel-making operations in 19 countries on four continents, including 54 integrated and mini-mill steel-making facilities. As of December 31, 2015, ArcelorMittal had approximately 209,000 employees.

ArcelorMittal’s steel-making operations have a high degree of geographic diversification. Approximately 37% of its crude steel is produced in the Americas, approximately 47% is produced in Europe and approximately 15% is produced in other countries, such as Kazakhstan, South Africa and Ukraine. In addition, ArcelorMittal’s sales of steel products are spread over both developed and developing markets, which have different consumption characteristics. ArcelorMittal’s mining operations, present in North and South America, Africa, Europe and the CIS region, are integrated with its global steel-making facilities and are important producers of iron ore and coal in their own right.

Products: ArcelorMittal produces a broad range of high-quality finished and semi-finished steel products (“semis”). Specifically, ArcelorMittal produces flat steel products, including sheet and plate, and long steel products, including bars, rods and structural shapes. In addition, ArcelorMittal produces pipes and tubes for various applications. ArcelorMittal sells its steel products primarily in local markets and through its centralized marketing organization to a diverse range of customers in approximately 160 countries including the automotive, appliance, engineering, construction and machinery industries. The Company also produces various types of mining products including iron ore lump, fines, concentrate and sinter feed, as well as coking, PCI and thermal coal.

As a global steel producer, the Company is able to meet the needs of different markets. Steel consumption and product requirements clearly differ between developed markets and developing markets. Steel consumption in developed economies is weighted towards flat products and a higher value-added mix, while developing markets utilize a higher proportion of long products and commodity grades. To meet these diverse needs, the Company maintains a high degree of product diversification and seeks opportunities to increase the proportion of higher value-added products in its product mix.

Automotive focus: ArcelorMittal has a leading market share in its core markets in the automotive steel business and is a leader in the fast-growing advanced high strength steels segment. ArcelorMittal is the first steel company in the world to embed its own engineers within an automotive customer to provide engineering support. The Company begins working with original equipment manufacturers (“OEMs”) as early as five years before a vehicle reaches the showroom, to provide generic steel solutions, co-engineering and help with the industrialization of the project. In June 2013, ArcelorMittal launched an innovative ultra-lightweight steel car door, which is less expensive than an aluminum door. In addition, further solutions developed for the pick-up trucks market offer weight savings benefits. See­ “Item 4.B— Information on the Company—Business overview—Competitive strengths—Research and development” section below for further detail.

Mining Value Chain: ArcelorMittal has a significant portfolio of raw material and mining assets, as well as certain strategic long-term contracts with external suppliers. In 2015 (assuming full shipments of iron ore at ArcelorMittal Mines Canada, Serra Azul, Andrade, Liberia and full shipments at Peña Colorada for own use), approximately 62% of ArcelorMittal’s iron-ore requirements and approximately 15% of its PCI and coal requirements were supplied from its own mines or pursuant to strategic contracts at many of its operating units. The Company currently has iron ore mining activities in Brazil, Bosnia, Canada, Kazakhstan, Liberia, Mexico, Ukraine and the United States. The Company currently has coal mining activities in Kazakhstan and the United States. ArcelorMittal also has made strategic investments in order to secure access to other raw materials including manganese and ferro alloys.

In addition, ArcelorMittal produces substantial amounts of direct reduced iron, or DRI, which is a scrap substitute used in its mini-mill facilities to supplement external metallics purchases. ArcelorMittal is also a significant producer of coke, which is produced from metallurgical coal and is a critical raw material for steel-making, satisfying 86% of its coke needs through its own production facilities. ArcelorMittal’s facilities have good access to shipping facilities, including through ArcelorMittal’s own 17 deep-water port facilities and linked railway sidings.

ArcelorMittal has its own downstream steel distribution business, primarily run through its Europe segment. It also provides value-added and customized steel solutions through additional processing activities to meet specific customer requirements.

Business strategy

ArcelorMittal’s success is built on its core values of sustainability, quality and leadership and the entrepreneurial boldness that has empowered its emergence as the first truly global steel and mining company. Acknowledging that a combination of structural issues and macroeconomic conditions will continue to challenge returns in its sector, the Company has adapted its footprint to the new demand realities, intensified its efforts to control costs and repositioned its operations to outperform its competitors.

Against this backdrop, ArcelorMittal's strategy is to leverage four distinctive attributes that will enable it to capture leading positions in the most attractive areas of the steel industry value chain, from mining at one end to distribution and first-stage processing at the other:

• Global scale and scope

• Unmatched technical capabilities

• Diverse portfolio of steel and related businesses, particularly mining

• Financial capability.