Arcelor Mittal has signed a joint venture agreement with the Bin Jarallah Group of companies for the design and construction of a seamless tube mill in Saudi Arabia.

This state-of-the-art facility will be located in Jubail Industrial City, north of Al Jubail on the Persian Gulf. The mill will have a capacity of 500,000 tonnes per year. About two-thirds of its capacity will be used for tubes for oil industry applications (OCTG), and the remainder for line pipe, in sizes ranging from 4 to 14-inch. Semi-products for the mill will be sourced from Arcelor Mittal steel plants.

Arcelor Mittal will hold a 51% share in the company established for this project, as well as management and operation rights. The Bin Jarallah Group holding the remaining 49%. The mill will partially be funded by the Saudi Investment Development Fund. Arcelor Mittal will apply for an investment license under the Foreign Investment Regulations of The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

"This project gives us a strategic opportunity to enter the Middle East's, and in particular Saudi Arabia's, thriving markets,” commented Sudhir Maheshwari, Executive VP of Finance and M&A and member of Arcelor Mittal's Group Executive Committee. “Its location provides access to international sea lanes through the Persian Gulf as well as proximity to energy sources. The Al Jubail project will allow us to strengthen our relationship with Saudi Aramco, who will be one of the key customers of the mill. It will position Arcelor Mittal's pipes and tubes business, which already has facilities in Eastern Europe, North America, Africa and Kazakhstan, to best supply the world's largest markets.”

Construction is planned to commence at the end of the first quarter of 2008 and to be completed by the last quarter of 2009. Once it is up and running, the mill is expected to employ 420 people.

Arcelor Mittal is the world's number one steel company, with 330,000 employees in more than 60 countries. The group leads such major global markets as automotive, construction, household appliances and packaging, with leading R&D and technology, as well as sizeable captive supplies of raw materials and outstanding distribution networks. An industrial presence in 27 European, Asian, African and American countries exposes the company to all the key steel markets, from emerging to mature, positions it will be looking to develop in the high-growth Chinese and Indian markets.

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