ArcelorMittal bid for Essar gains favor

Luxembourg-based steelmaker ArcelorMittal says it has been informed by the Committee of Creditors (CoC) for Essar Steel India Limited (ESIL) that it is the preferred bidder for the Essar India assets.

A brief news release issued by ArcelorMittal says it “has been evaluated to be the H1 Resolution Applicant (the preferred bidder) in the corporate insolvency resolution process for ESIL.” The global steelmaker also indicates it “will now enter into further final negotiations with the CoC.”

Essar Steel is an integrated flat steel producer with its main production facility in the Indian state of Gujarat. It has a nameplate crude steel capacity of 9.6 million metric tons per year, according to ArcelorMittal. However, in an ArcelorMittal news release from February 2018, the steelmaker says of Essar India, “The current maximum achievable crude steel production level [at Essar] is 6.1 million tons per year, due to a bottleneck in the steelmaking and casting process.”