Company Announcements
February 5, 2026
ArcelorMittal sees Q1 volume rebound for N. America as Mexico ops normalize
Written by Laura Miller
ArcelorMittal’s North American operations posted lower sequential results in the fourth quarter. But with operations returning to normal in Mexico, the company expects to see a volume recovery in the first quarter.
The North American segment of the Luxembourg-based steelmaker reported 8% lower sales in Q4’25 compared with the previous quarter. This was due to lower average selling prices, a 3.2% fall in flat-rolled steel shipments, and a 5.5% decline in long product shipments.
“As you know, we were experiencing operational problems in Mexico that have been now largely resolved,” commented CEO Aditya Mittal on an earnings conference call on Thursday. Recall the company’s Lazaro Cardenas mill in southwest Mexico restarted its blast furnace in January after an unplanned six-month outage. The mill also experienced an unrelated incident in August that affected production at its direct-reduction plant. “So we will see a recovery in volume in North America in Q1,” Mittal stated.
He also noted steel prices have been moving higher, with further increases expected.
The NA segment posted a Q4 operating loss of $21 million, impacted by higher depreciation charges due to the end of life of certain assets, the company said in its most recent earnings report.
For the full year 2025, ArcelorMittal’s North American mills lifted their flat-rolled shipments by 4.4% from 2024 to 8,378,000 metric tons (mt). Total segment sales of just over $3 billion were 16% higher year over year, while operating income improved notably, from $1.31 billion in 2024 to $2.2 billion in 2025.
“2025 was a pivotal year for the global steel industry and ArcelorMittal,” Mittal remarked. “While the ongoing geopolitical volatility brought significant challenges, important foundations were also laid for a more supportive operating environment moving forwards.”
Calvert update
ArcelorMittal said its Calvert mill in Alabama delivered a record 4.7 million mt of finished steel shipments in 2025.
Additionally, the new 1.5-million-mt-per-year EAF at the ArcelorMittal Calvert mill continues to ramp up towards full utilization. Mittal indicated it should reach full capacity in the second half of the year.
Regarding the possibility of adding a second EAF, management said not to expect approval for the expansion to happen immediately. They said they do expect approval in the short term, although no specific timeline was given.
ArcelorMittal also noted it expects the new $1.2 billion, 150,000 mt non-grain-oriented electrical steel (NOES) plant at the Calvert facility to start up in the second half of 2027.
