MxMining

ArcelorMittal is a fairly quiet company when it comes to letting people know where they're working and what they're doing but since they're one of the largest steel companies in the world they can probably very well afford to be as quiet as they are.

If you're not familiar with the name ArcelorMittal you might recognize the two original companies "Arcelor" and "Mittal Steel", these two companies recently joined forces and assumed the name ArcelorMittal. This move has likely made them the most powerful steel products company in the world today.

For the past year ArcelorMittal has been working quickly and quietly on a new plant called the "El Volcan Proyecto" just outside of the city of Obregon in the state of Sonora and of cource every time we pass by the new plant we give it a once over to see what is going on. The last time we went by it looked like they were in the process of doing some test runs and getting all the little things worked out.

We're not sure if it has anything to do with ArcelorMittal but it seems that the railway line ArcelorMittal will be using is getting an upgrade. FerroMex (the rail company) is working hard replacing a lot of the timbers that support the lines. This might be an upgrade or even some much needed maintenance to handle the heavy iron ire that ArcelorMittal will be shipping.

ArcelorMittal has a target of being 75% self-sufficient with the raw products needed to make steel. They claim to be 46% self-sufficient on their iron ore requirements for the duration of 2007. With the new El Volcan Proyecto up and running their self-sufficiency level for 2009 should be much higher.

Last check ArcelorMittal's stock was trading at about $23 which is less than one third of what it was trading at back in June. Just like many other companies ArcelorMittal seems to have been hit pretty hard by the recent realization of the economic state of the world but we see this low in their stock as a buying opportunity.