Quality and sustainability – the key for the future of steel

The steel industry needs to start benchmarking itself against leading global manufacturing and service companies in order to activate its long-term potential, Lakshmi Mittal, President and CEO of ArcelorMittal, said on June 20, 2007.

Speaking at the annual Steel Success Strategies Conference in New York, Mr Mittal said: “I think we are all agreed that today the industry is in a far healthier position. But similarly I feel that the new period of stability we have entered calls for a new focus. We have succeeded in proving that the steel industry has the chance of a future. Now we have to concentrate on building a steel industry for the modern age. One which is quality driven in terms of product, process and supply chain.”

Mr Mittal said that whilst the steel industry has been focused on becoming sustainable for some time, historically this had related to the ironing out of the industry’s cyclicality and volatility. Now, he said, it is time to work towards a sustainable model focussed on customer and stakeholder satisfaction, not only self preservation. “If the past few years have been about ensuring our survival, the future must be about recreating an industry admired for its operational excellence and quality of application and product,” said Mr Mittal.

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