Javier Lasso Peña, Global Tax Director at ArcelorMittal, has recently been recognised as one of the most admired Tax  Directors in Europe after a poll lead among International Tax Review‘s readers. But what is it exactly that makes a good tax director? We asked the awarded tax expert himself to give us his views…

“A good tax manager realises that he or she is part of a team. Tax is like a symphony. You cannot play it alone. An orchestra is needed. Every player has his or her own talent, creative skills and responsibilities. But all players are well aware that they need to synchronise harmoniously their instruments to achieve a goal in common: bring value to their company and its shareholders in compliance with tax laws.

This is a major challenge in a world where multinationals are increasingly facing fragmented and conflicting tax landscapes. Thousands of intra-group transactions take place on a daily basis within ArcelorMittal. These intra-company dealings trigger diverse tax and transfer pricing implications.

Tax is not only a concern of tax and transfer pricing specialists. Tax is regularly part of business decisions. It requires sound corporate governance. Therefore, the engagement of the business is crucial. Tax follows the business. However, a good tax manager looks continuously at opportunities as how to influence the business positively. For this purpose, a good tax manager acts as a business partner exploiting all possible management skills in addition to tax expertise.

Are taxes boring? Not at all! During my first 5 years dealing with taxes I seriously considered quitting this profession. In 2010, I am celebrating my 20th anniversary as a tax professional and I continue to enjoy the challenges involving taxes.”

For ArcelorMittal colleagues interested in reading the International Tax Review´s article “Teamwork relieves demands on Tax Directors” following the Most Admired Tax Directors in Europe poll lead, please click here www.myarcelormittal.com. The article can be found under the ‘Tax Info’ section on the linked page.

By Javier Lasso Peña, Global Tax Director, ArcelorMittal

“Why a new season of the Web TV, and why now?” you may wonder. In the last 18 months we have seen projects suspended, ArcelorMittal colleagues leaving, orders from our customers halted, our steel production falling by almost 50%, then picking up again… and just now, the Web TV comes back, and with renewed energy. Here is why.

Many things have changed in the last few months, but our brand attitude ‘boldness’ has not: we were quite bold dealing with the crisis, being the first to announce very tough measures.

Now that we see signs of recovery, we turn a camera on ourselves in a still fragile period and document the story as it happens. While we do, we are not yet certain of how it is going to play out for our Group, the industry or quite frankly, the economy of the world in general. It is, literally, history in the making. More than transparent, it is a very bold way to do business, isn’t it?

In the worst moments of the crisis and also now, we believe in communication. And good communication is a 2-way road… that is why at the heart of Web TV 2010, and beyond the video episodes, we are allowing people inside and out of the company to participate in open discussions and criticism, but inviting you to do so in an increasingly user friendly format. 

Is it for real? Check out the discussion on our CR activities in India, or the reaction generated to our donation to Haiti victims, and decide for yourself…

May 12, 2009. At the 2nd floor of our Luxembourg headquarters, shareholders are voting one of the 12 resolutions on the agenda. Suddenly, an alarm goes off. Moments of confusion. Downstairs, a group of participants in a demonstration against temporary lay offs is trying to demolish the front door of the building and throwing smoke bombs. Only a few people in the meeting room actually know what’s going on…

Mr Mittal apologises for the disturbance and the shareholder meeting continues normally. Once the session is over and people start to leave the room, we notice the smoke. Some shareholders start coughing. All participants (shareholders, management, media, employees) are requested to stay on the 2nd floor for our own security.

In the meantime, downstairs, almost 1,500 colleagues, according to the Luxembourg police, are taking part in the demonstration. They come mostly from the neighbouring countries of Belgium and France. They are concerned about their jobs; they want guarantees about their future; they want to keep on working as they did before the global crisis started…

Some people inside the building are concerned about their safety. “Violence is never the answer,” they think to themselves. Steelworkers outside find it hard to believe that a downturn that started in the financial area is now stopping blast furnaces that had been running for a hundred years…

Both shareholders upstairs and employees downstairs have 1 thing in common: As Mr Mittal says, “We are all frustrated, because we want to make steel. This is the purpose of our Company. But the reality is that we cannot produce what we cannot sell.”

In the end, everyone is safe. And the front door, made of steel, resists the attack, (although the glass doesn’t – replaced a few hours later). In the midst of these turbulent times, we believe that our industry will be as resistant as our product.

Pictures: Shareholders, policemen and unions, at our Annual General Meeting. (Solène Vincens)

ArcelorMittal was recently labelled ’star’ of the French stock exchange in 2007 by La Tribune newspaper. Stocks on the Paris stock exchange rose by 73%. But it is not only in France that ArcelorMittal’s share price has performed exceptionally well.

ArcelorMittal was the best performer in the Amsterdam AEX and among the top performers globally in the Eurostoxx 50. While the company’s share price rose by 73% in Europe, it also increased by 96% in the US. These figures are all very impressive given that, globally, the metals and mining stocks were up by 48%, the steel stocks by 36% and the general stock market by just 5%.

Key in achieving this performance were a combination of company and sector performance, reflected in ArcelorMittal’s results and profitability, and the effort in Investor Relations. With fears of a recession in the US and a potentially difficult economic environment globally, the challenge for 2008 will be to continue to deliver strong financial results.

On November 14 2007 ArcelorMittal announced the results for the three and nine-month periods ended September 30, 2007.

Commenting, Lakshmi N. Mittal, President and CEO, ArcelorMittal, said that they were pleased to report another strong set of numbers for the third quarter, with EBITDA at $4.9 billion. He added that this had taken EBITDA for the first nine months of the year to $14.6 billion, 30% higher than in 2006. Mr Mittal stated that they were on track to deliver a record year for the Company.

He said that the company was making good progress with its three-dimensional growth strategy and explained that they had announced a number of important strategic transactions in the quarter in Argentina, Canada, China, Italy and Turkey to further strengthen their market-leading position. Mr Mittal also stated that they had identified 20mt of organic growth by 2012, taking advantage of strong growth dynamics in developing markets.

He concluded by saying that they were very pleased with the overall progress of the company. In a letter to the employees he congratulated each of them for the key role they had played in achieving these results.

99.5% of the votes cast at the ArcelorMittal Extraordinary General Meeting and 97.3% of the votes cast at the Arcelor Extraordinary General Meeting were cast in favour of the proposed merger. 67.4% of ArcelorMittal’s and 96.8% of Arcelor’s outstanding share capital were present or represented at the respective Extraordinary General Meeting.

This merger, expected to be effective on November 13, 2007, is the second step in the two-step merger process between Mittal Steel Company N.V. (which merged into ArcelorMittal on 3 September 2007) and Arcelor. Upon effectiveness of the merger, ArcelorMittal will cease to exist and Arcelor will be renamed ArcelorMittal. Holders of (former) ArcelorMittal shares will automatically receive one newly issued Arcelor (to be renamed ArcelorMittal) share for every (former) ArcelorMittal share.

Said Mr Mittal, ArcelorMittal CEO: “With the successful integration of the Mittal and Arcelor teams complete, the EGMs mark the final step in our legal and technical integration. As one company in every sense, we look forward to continued progress as the world’s leading steel company.”

The mill, which will be located in Turkey next to ArcelorMittal and Borusan’s jointly operated Borçelik plant in Gemlik, on the Marmara sea coast, is planned to come online in the first half of 2010 with a capacity of 4.8 million tonnes. Slabs for this hot strip mill will mainly be sourced from ArcelorMittal, which will ensure a supply of high quality products for the booming Turkish steel market. According to Michel Wurth, ArcelorMittal GMB member in charge of Flat Carbon Europe, the Turkish steel market is expected to grow at a rate of at least 6% per year over the next ten years.

ArcelorMittal has been present on the Turkish market for more than 15 years, with, in addition to its Borçelik cold rolling and galvanising joint venture, businesses in the packaging, distribution, steel service centres and stainless segments.

Much press attention was given to the statements of Mr Mittal, President and CEO, and GMB members Gonzalo Urquijo and Michel Wurth. One of their main messages was the internal growth plan target to increase shipments by more than 20% from 2006 to 201. The three-dimensional growth strategy which refers to mining, distribution and product mix was also presented.

An update was also given about the most recent milestones of the successful integration: of the $1.6 billion synergies projected in September 2006, $973 had already been realised at the end of the second quarter of 2007. Approximately $1.3 billion are expected to be captured by the end of the third quarter 2007.

The motto of the IISI Conference was “meeting the challenge”. In line with this, the GMB Members also announced ArcelorMittal’s intention to assume responsibility as a forerunner in the field of climate change.

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IISI short range outlook – Read the forecast

Gracing the cover of the September issue of the business and finance magazine PaperJam, in Luxembourg, is Aditya Mittal, ArcelorMittal CFO and GMB Member. The article takes a backwards look at the process which created the world’s number one steel company – from first announcement of merger intention to today’s successful integration and record results.

In an exclusive interview Aditya responds candidly to questions mostly focused on the process of the merger between Mittal Steel and Arcelor and the series of political and economic events which have changed the industrialist landscape and the economic world.

When asked to list the main positive points ArcelorMittal has realised since the merger, Aditya answered that today the organisation was much more transparent than in the past and that it was more directed towards a meritocracy. He added having made Health and Safety at work the number one priority and stated that the greatest progress had clearly been realised on the cultural level.

He also said that ArcelorMittal had recorded significant industrial progress in many fields and that the markets had appreciated ArcelorMittal’s evolution.