ArcelorMittal plant sold to TT Iron Steel Company Ltd

[konartis]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lakshmi_Mittal

Mittal was born on 15 June 1950.[1][2] His residence at 18-19 Kensington Palace Gardens—which was purchased from Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone in 2004 for £67 million (US$128 million)—made it the world's most expensive house at the time.[35] The house is decorated with marble taken from the same quarry that supplied the Taj Mahal.[36] The extravagant show of wealth has been referred to as the "Taj Mittal".[37] It has 12 bedrooms, an indoor pool, Turkish baths and parking for 20 cars.[38] He is a lacto-vegetarian.[39]

Mittal bought No. 9A Palace Greens, Kensington Gardens, formerly the Philippines Embassy, for £70 million in 2008 for his daughter Vanisha Mittal who is married to Amit Bhatia, a businessman and philanthropist. Being a vegetarian, Mittal threw a lavish "vegetarian reception" for Vanisha in the Palace of Versailles, France.[39]

Mittal owns three prime properties collectively worth £500 million on "Billionaire's Row" at Kensington Palace Gardens.[40]

In 2005 he also bought a colonial bungalow for $30 million at No. 22, Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Road, New Delhi, one of the most exclusive streets in India, occupied by embassies and billionaires, and rebuilt it as a house.[41]

In December 2013, Mittal's niece got married in a three-day celebration that it is reported brought Barcelona to a standstill and cost up to £50m. An army of 200 butlers, cooks and secretaries were reportedly flown into Spain from India and Thailand while the 500 guests were made to sign confidentiality agreements


when you read about this INDIAN, you really feel he have time to study these backward PNM people? lmao....think again!!

[zoom rader]

Manning took over Air Jamaica last time and put CAL to run it.

so maybe Rowley can take over Arcelor Mittal and localize it
hand it straight to the union to run for themselves
a true win win situation for everybody

would the union be capable and willing of handling this ?

ansa coming to save the day

This recession is ansa ticket to owning everything. . When all is bought you will hear economy bounce back. .

I said all this before but the clowns on Tuner cant see this.

Now is the time to buy ANSA shares

[DatManiac]

If the steel industry so badly off, how come nu iron plant still pumpin. They have exactly the same type of plant. Plant producing like normal. Guess is how you manage your money.

[De Dragon]

If the steel industry so badly off, how come nu iron plant still pumpin. They have exactly the same type of plant. Plant producing like normal. Guess is how you manage your money.

No, Nu-Iron produces DRI alone, Mittal produces DRI but also wire rods, billets etc. Also their markets are different.

[RASC]

Manning took over Air Jamaica last time and put CAL to run it.

so maybe Rowley can take over Arcelor Mittal and localize it
hand it straight to the union to run for themselves
a true win win situation for everybody

would the union be capable and willing of handling this ?

ansa coming to save the day

This recession is ansa ticket to owning everything. . When all is bought you will hear economy bounce back. .

I said all this before but the clowns on Tuner cant see this.

Now is the time to buy ANSA shares

Iron Ore Prices looking to rebound. It had a volatile week... Maybe signs that its gonna break through resistance?

[joker]

Guys it is only the MANAGING DIRECTOR alone to be blamed ,he came here with a mission to destroy the company by running it into the ground ,and it has come to pass. Electricity moved from 2c/kwh to 4c/kwh and they griping .we had a pension surplus of over $50m(tt) in 3 years that has dwindled to less than $500k .... yadda yadda .. we are ATM meeting with the MOL.

[De Dragon]

Manning took over Air Jamaica last time and put CAL to run it.

so maybe Rowley can take over Arcelor Mittal and localize it
hand it straight to the union to run for themselves
a true win win situation for everybody

would the union be capable and willing of handling this ?

ansa coming to save the day

This recession is ansa ticket to owning everything. . When all is bought you will hear economy bounce back. .

I said all this before but the clowns on Tuner cant see this.

Now is the time to buy ANSA shares

Iron Ore Prices looking to rebound. It had a volatile week... Maybe signs that its gonna break through resistance?

Steel prices are set to remain depressed for at least the rest of this year, mainly due to the slowdown in China, who now have to find markets for their steel, therefore depressing world steel prices.

[Duane 3NE 2NR]

ArcelorMittal offers to sell company to Government for $1

The Steel Workers Union (SWUTT) is not accepting ArcelorMittal’s claims that it was incurring losses since 2009, which subsequently led to the company being forced to close its Point Lisas plant on Friday.

The union has labelled the company’s move as a “strategic” way to wash its hands of its obligations to workers.

Only on Thursday, workers celebrated having won at the Industrial Court, in a case against the company for laying them off twice between December 2015 and February this year.

Their short-lived jubilation turned to immediate sorrow, after they were informed that the company had incurred a $1.3 billion debt and could no longer continue to operate. Over 700 workers had suddenly lost their jobs.

According to SWUTT’s vice-president, Ramkumar Narinesingh, the company’s managing director, Robert Bellisle, indicated in a meeting on Friday that last December, the company had sent a proposal to the Government offering the plant for sale for $1.

“He did not say whether it was a TT or US dollar. It could have been a single dollar or a nominal fee, he did not elaborate." This means that if Government purchases the company, it will automatically inherit the $1.3 billion debt.

Narinesingh said when the liquidators take over, the company will no longer be obligated to settle outstanding payments to people who would have won in court. Additionally, matters before the courts will be deemed null and void.

He said what this country was facing was the actions of a shrewd businessman and his executives.

Steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal was once listed by Forbes as the third richest man in Britain, with a net worth of over $45 billion.

According to Narinesingh, the union believes that ArcelorMittal’s main creditor is Mittal himself. Mittal, he added, mines iron ore and sells back to ArcelorMittal. Government, he noted, has called on the company to provide a list of their creditors, which they are not obligated to do.

The union is now calling on Government to step in, “and not diplomatically,” to protect the rights of its citizens.

“Where were their austerity plans? We just cannot see that a company with knowledge that it was heading into a bleak financial situation would continue wanton expenditure as it did in the years since 2009. This man (Mittal) bought this company for $70 million and in one year paid back that loan. He was recorded as one of the richest men in England and just allowed the largest steel producing company in the world to suffer cash haemorrhages, while executives here replaced their upgraded vehicles annually.

“They kept lavish Christmas parties for several years now, after 2009, rented out entire venues and engaged top entertainment and the company was in debt? We, the union, as the social partners, were never told that. In fact we had the largest union settlement of 14 per cent and hefty upgraded benefits in our last negotiations and all the while the company was incurring huge debts?” queried Narinesingh during a telephone interview with Sunday Guardian yesterday.

He said there were just too many ways to have curbed expenditure if the company knew it was that strapped for cash and anticipating closure.

Additionally, there was the issue of final settlement of share payments from after the period 2008, which was made mandatory during Mittal’s buy-out years ago. He said workers had already been paid $150,000 each for the period up to 2008 after Mittal continued to refuse to place the shares on the local open market, but agreed to pay the cash.

The previous government, he stated, is aware of discussions to finally settle these payments.

Narinesingh said they anticipate that Mittal (Lakhsmi) will allow the company to be liquidated and “wash his hands of all obligations the company has to its local workers.”

He also speculated that Mittal would return in the near future, repurchase the company and return to these shores under a different company name, continuing operations in some form or fashion.

Narinesingh queried, too, the valuation of the company after an audit by Pricewaterhouse.

He said what they understood occurred was that the company was devalued by its executives who stated that its assets would have to be replaced rather than repaired.

Calls to the mobile of Labour Minister Jennifer Baptiste-Primus yesterday went unanswered.

Calls to the mobile of the head of legal at ArcelorMittal Vijayalakshmi Jaigopal also went unanswered.

Finance Minister Colm Imbert, when reached on his cellphone, said he will comment on the matter next week.

Lakshmi Mittal—STEEL TYCOON

Steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal, once labelled by Forbes as the third richest man in Britain, attempted to buy out Arcelor in Luxembourg in 2006 for $18.6 billion pounds cash and shares. The offer was rejected by Arcelor’s directors as hostile. Arcelor, created in 2002 from a merger of French, Luxembourg, Belgian and Spanish steel interests, warned against Mittal’s "irregular" profitability, pledging to consider "all options" to foil the hostile bid, according to an NBC news report in 2006.

Two days later, prime minister Jean-Claude Juncker of Luxembourg, which held 5.6 per cent share in Arcelor, vowed to use “all necessary means” to fend off Mittal’s unsolicited offer.

After a couple months of negotiations, Arcelor finally agreed to the merger for $33.5 billion from Mittal.

SOURCE: http://www.guardian.co.tt

[yohyoh]

De Dragon AM has three DRI plants versus NuIron has only one.
Those DR plants were the only profitable plants at AM.
Billets and wire rods were only incurring losses.

[De Dragon]

De Dragon AM has three DRI plants versus NuIron has only one.
Those DR plants were the only profitable plants at AM.
Billets and wire rods were only incurring losses.

Weren't the rod/meltshop being fed with the DRI produced by the DR plants? Were some being exported as well?

[yohyoh]

Most were exported. DRI was the biggest exporter of all their products.

[De Dragon]

Most were exported. DRI was the biggest exporter of all their products.

So why'd they close those plants?

[pete]

The market for it dried up I guess. Think ANSA really wants to buy into a company with massive losses then try to turn that around while fighting with a union and competing against the very company that owned the plant and already has established markets to sell to?

I could be wrong but that doesn't seem to be the kind of business theyre into.

Sent from my MotoG3 using Tapatalk

[zoom rader]

The market for it dried up I guess. Think ANSA really wants to buy into a company with massive losses then try to turn that around while fighting with a union and competing against the very company that owned the plant and already has established markets to sell to?

I could be wrong but that doesn't seem to be the kind of business theyre into.

Sent from my MotoG3 using Tapatalk

Ansa had always been involved with heavy industry, they actually build plants and have technical staff.

Once plant sold without workers then they have no union to deal with.

Master stroke, get rid of workers. Sell plant and open new company without any unions to deal with.

This all sounds like it was pre planed and I bet PNM knew what's going on long before

[Duane 3NE 2NR]

[Daran]

Man whoever wrote that press releases needs to go back to communications school. Painful to read.

[S_2NR]

the person who wrote that press release is either rowley friend or family to have that job. a std 5 student can do better.

[matix]

Sounds like rowley

[Gladiator]

That document is more difficult to read than it is to listen to Maxi Cuffie speak.

[Duane 3NE 2NR]

meanwhile

http://jyoticommunication.blogspot.com/ ... ts-on.html

Rowley distorting facts on closure of ArcelorMittal plant

Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley issued a media statement Saturday expressing "sadness and deep disappointment" over the decision by ArcelorMittal to close its steel producing business at Point Lisas.

He stated that it was done "on the heels of a decision where the workers had their rights defended in a Superior Court of Record" and charged that the decision was taken "without reference or discussion with the Government of Trinidad and Tobago".

That statement contradicts his Labour Minister, Jennifer Baptiste-Primus, who was quoted in the Trinidad Guardian on Saturday (March 12) as stating that she received two letters from the company, one of which advised her of the proposed closure and sought a meeting.

According to the Guardian report, the minister stated that she had other scheduled matters and could not meet with the company.

So Dr. Rowley was misleading citizens when he claimed that the steel company took its decision without reference or discussion with the government.

The other issue of note, is that the letter was sent to the labour minister before the judgment of the Industrial Court so it is clear that ArcelorMittal was contemplating closure before the court handed down its decision and that it wanted to meet the government to talk about it. But the labour minister was too busy.

What is even more worrisome in the claim by the Prime Minister that the company’s actions were "punitive and disrespectful in the extreme" without providing any evidence to support his assertion.

And while censuring the company he appeared to be conciliatory, stating that "the Ministry of Trade and Industry and the Ministry of Finance stand ready to re-engage ArcelorMittal on these far reaching developments".

He added, "…it is our expectation that...there is still room for the country and the investor to talk and work our way out of these very real difficulties.”

Why didn't Dr. Rowley and his government think about these things before? Instead of dialogue they behaved with typical arrogance in dealing with a multinational corporation that operates in sixty countries with assets of TT$500 billion. And the bullying approach backfired.

Could the minister not make an adjustment to her schedule to meet with the company? After all the jobs of 700 people were at stake, not to mention the economic fallout from the closure of a company that pays millions in taxes and buys goods and services amounting to tens of millions of dollars annually.And it had been doing it for 27 years!

The minister admitted in her comments in the Guardian that she knew the company wanted to discuss closing its operations but still did not see it important enough to meet with the company. Yet the prime minister concluded that the company's decision was "punitive and disrespectful in the extreme".

Dr. Rowley also distorted reality by presenting half truths about the history of the steel company in Trinidad and Tobago.

The Eric Williams PNM government built the Iron and Steel company (ISCOTT) at Point Lisas against the advice and better judgment of experts. ISCOTT had poor management, a lack of expertise and no global marketing skills.

ISCOTT became a national parasite, consuming more than one million dollars a day in subsidy, which the Chambers government continued to pour into the company until the PNM was voted out of office.

In 1989, the NAR government of Prime Minister A.N.R. Robinson sold ISCOTT to the Mittal family, which had been operating a company known as Ispat International since 1978. Ispat was already a major player in the international steel industry when it bought ISCOTT and renamed it Caribbean Ispat; in 2006 it became part of the ArcelorMittal multinational steel company.

The owner, Lakshmi Mittal, made the company profitable within a year without laying off workers or amending their terms of employment. In other words he saved the government about $400 million a year in subsidy alone and since 1989 has been paying millions in taxes and buying goods and services, while maintaining full employment.

So Rowley was telling a half truth and deliberately misleading citizens by suggesting that "a local steel industry, which was funded and nurtured by local taxpayers, then fell into the investment hands of Mittal, which with our continued support and sacrifice, went on to become a world power in the steel industry."

Rowley is wrong. There was no support and no sacrifice from T&T as he claimed. In fact it was the flip side of his claim; Caribbean Ispat provided an economic lifeline to the country at a time when Trinidad and Tobago was facing a severe recession. And the company remained a fixture in Trinidad and Tobago's industrial landscape for decades, providing jobs and pumping millions in revenue into the T&T economy until it started facing losses in 2009. Still it remained at Point Lisas until the government changed and the new administration put hurdles in the way with new policies that the company saw as a hindrance to continuing to do business.

The Rowley PNM government’s arrogance and refusal to meet with the company contributed to the closure of the plant, which was a part of the biggest steel operation on the planet. The government's harsh economic policies also influenced the company's decision.

BIG PLAYER

In 2006 Mittal created ArcelorMittal with its headquarters in Luxembourg. The multinational company, with plants in 19 countries and significant investments in 60 countries, had assets of US$76.84B (approx. TT$500B) in 2015 and revenue of US$63.57B (approx. TT$414B). This was no corner store!

Like any multinational company its principal interest was in making money for its shareholders. It owed no allegiance to any government anywhere and if the Rowley government had not acted with arrogance the story could have had a different conclusion.

The Prime Minister’s distortion of the facts and baseless accusation against the company demonstrate that he is not really willing to keep ArcelorMittal here. He is, as usual, hoodwinking the people with false claims and distortion of facts. No one enters a mediation by hurling insults while saying you want to negotiate in good faith.

The real losers in this whole affair are the workers, their families and the others whose lives revolved around the steel plant. And if Rowley doesn't change his approach he would face an exodus of foreign capital because those who bring money here as investment are first and foremost doing it for their shareholders, not to be nice to Trinidad and Tobago.

Jai Parasram | 13 March 2016

[zorced]

The facts of that article are disturbing.

God spede working class citizens and entrepreneurs who do not align with this (or any) gov'ts objectives.

[York]

My sentiments exactly, punitive and disrespectful in the extreme but want to work it out!! Who you be Dr Rowley??

[1UZFE]

#iswetimenow

[kjaglal76v2]

I remember when I lost my job I had to re-adjust my spending (a lifestyle adjustment). Swallow your pride and get out there and find a job. There are countless opportunities out-there, my advise to any AM employee who may be a bit timid to admit of the job loss and admitedly so, find a job! Anything you can get, take it! Be it a bank teller, a kiosk operator in a mall, a gas station pump attendant or going into gardening and car washing. Do something productive with your time because your family is more than worth it. Small ting to give up your new SUV. Dial back and get a local used or foreign used but never give up. They could take away your job but your qualifications/education/experience, family and most importantly your health is your wealth!

some wise words from a forum idiot

[EmilioA]

Ansa had always been involved with heavy industry, they actually build plants and have technical staff.
Once plant sold without workers then they have no union to deal with.
Master stroke, get rid of workers. Sell plant and open new company without any unions to deal with.
This all sounds like it was pre planed and I bet PNM knew what's going on long before

So you dont want Govt to own IT and you dont want the Syrians to own it. So what is your solution. Leave it shut down ?

[EmilioA]

The Rowley PNM government’s arrogance and refusal to meet with the company contributed to the closure of the plant, which was a part of the biggest steel operation on the planet. The government's harsh economic policies also influenced the company's decision.

Check at nonsense here. AM close down becuase they 1.3 billion dollars in debt. How Rowley responsible for that ?

What harsh economic policies ? Nothing that would affect AM get implemented yet.

Any meeting between AM and the Govt would have been AM asking for more tax breaks , exemption from TTEC rates and maybe even a subsidy. At which point I have to ask what would AM have been contributing to our revenue ?

[zoom rader]

Ansa had always been involved with heavy industry, they actually build plants and have technical staff.
Once plant sold without workers then they have no union to deal with.
Master stroke, get rid of workers. Sell plant and open new company without any unions to deal with.
This all sounds like it was pre planed and I bet PNM knew what's going on long before

So you dont want Govt to own IT and you dont want the Syrians to own it. So what is your solution. Leave it shut down ?

Public ownership, Citizens invest stock/shares, appoint a CEO and staff.

No one person or government should run it

Syrians keep money for themselves , hell u cant even marry there daughters .
Governments miss use and abuse state businesses

[BRZ]

Why oh why would a government want to take over and buy out a company that is DEEP DEEP in DEBT in such a bad economic time? Some of those people who work for the company yes I would understand that they would want their jobs back at any cost, but for onlookers with nothing to gain, use some common sense please. Don't be a union jacka55 !

[zoom rader]

Why oh why would a government want to take over and buy out a company that is DEEP DEEP in DEBT in such a bad economic time? Some of those people who work for the company yes I would understand that they would want their jobs back at any cost, but for onlookers with nothing to gain, use some common sense please. Don't be a union jacka55 !

You lack understanding once again.

Buying a Plant is not the same as buying a company.

ISCOTT was lease to ISPAT and then sold to Mittal. When ISPAT brought ISCOTT they did not buy the debt that accumulated by the then government .

[Redman]

The only reason to take over the plant/co is if we can produce at a profit.

If its coming without liabilities-then take it and mothball till we see higher prices..

In both cases let the ownership reside in a publicly traded entity like NEL.


But public disclosure of all the details should be the start.