Mr Mittal sets the tone

Dear colleagues around the globe,


Welcome to the latest edition of boldspirit. As you can see, the format of boldspirit has changed somewhat - from a magazine to an ezine, in line with all our global efforts to reduce costs throughout the organisation. Its purpose however remains the same - to communicate effectively to our employees around the globe.

The financial crisis has served to remind us all of the importance of communication - particularly internally. Good communication is critical in ensuring not only that we face up to, and understand, the global economic challenges facing the world and thus our Group, but also that we remember that despite the magnitude of the challenges, we are a very strong organisation with the capability to surmount these challenges and prosper for the long-term. Of this I have never been in doubt.


I am pleased that everyone has made an effort to communicate regularly to explain what we are doing and why we are doing it. Personally, I have increased my own communications considerably - with the quarterly earnings video, letter and conference call and the weekly GMB updates. I hope that you find this beneficial.


Slow and progressive recovery


As I recently explained at the annual conference of the World Steel Association in Beijing, one year on we are able to say with some confidence that although the crisis is not yet over, the worst is now behind us.


However, we must all be aware of the fact that recovery will be slow and progressive. How we handle the recovery will be as important as how we handled the decline. We cannot take our eye off the ball. We must continue to be vigilant in all areas of the business. It would be easy to think that now that the worst is over, we can start to relax. One thing that the crisis has taught us is that we can never afford to relax. Even when things are good, we should always strive to improve and be better.


We have started to slowly bring production back on-stream in line with increased market demand. The process of shutting down and re starting a blast furnace is technically demanding and I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate all of you who have been involved in this process. It has been handled with great expertise and sensitivity, ensuring that, to date, we have been able to re-start furnaces very smoothly. This is another example of the superior technical expertise we have in this Group.


It seemed only appropriate therefore, in this first edition of the new ezine, to celebrate these giants of steel-making, our blast furnaces, as we slowly start to bring them back on stream. Blast furnaces to me represent the heart of the steel making process. They represent the moment when the transformation from iron to steel begins. I have always retained a great fascination and admiration for them and for our people who take care of them.


Safe, Sustainable Steel


The other main focus of this edition is Health and Safety. Our commitment to making Safe, Sustainable Steel has not changed. It is, and will always remain, the core operating philosophy of ArcelorMittal. Inside, you will find photos dedicated to our hardworking colleagues in our plants observing the safety rules, with an article reviewing some of the activities which occurred around the world on our sites, and a couple of interviews, including one with our global H&S VP Frank Haers, that pulls no punches as to where we must improve. On the health side you can read about a very interesting campaign to improve conditions in our shared spaces across our sites.


Although times remain challenging, this edition also serves to remind us that we are still a great company, and we have many good things to talk about in our organisation. boldspirit speaks about these too, such as our shared love of the steel industry, our excitement over new products and innovations and the good that our Group is doing in many of the communities where we have a presence.


Happy reading and I hope you enjoy exploring the ezine.


Lakshmi N. Mittal,


Chairman and Chief Executive Officer