Aperam's Ten Year Journey - Sustainable by design - Made for Live

Luxembourg, 10 February 2021 (07:00 CET) - Aperam's Chairman Mr. Lakshmi N. Mittal and Aperam's CEO Mr. Tim Di Maulo issue today a tenth anniversary statement as the Company issues its 10th annual financial results. Aperam was created early 2011 at an extraordinary general meeting, where the shareholders of ArcelorMittal approved the spin-off proposal. The below table summarizes our decade key numbers:

Mr. Lakshmi N. Mittal, Chairman of Aperam's Board of Directors, said: "When Aperam was created ten years ago, the logic was to establish an independent company which would benefit from higher market visibility, pursue its growth strategy and enhance its competitiveness through a programme of self-help initiatives.

"The stainless steel industry has undergone dramatic change over the past decade, with the global competitive landscape being fundamentally reshaped by the emergence of major players in Asia who have disrupted global trade flows. Despite these challenges, Aperam has established itself as a leading player in its industry. We have improved our asset base and our cost competitiveness, strengthened our balance sheet, innovated to serve sustainable markets of the future, invested in our workforce, and set ambitious goals to further reduce our environmental impact. Aperam has become a much stronger company, capable of delivering value in the most challenging of market conditions.

"Looking forward, I am confident that our ongoing focus on structural improvement will ensure we continue to prosper for many years to come. In addition to these self-help initiatives, we continue to evolve our product range in-line with our customers' increasing sustainability requirements, while also leading our industry's efforts to support the transition to a low-carbon, circular economy."

Mr. Timoteo Di Maulo, Chief Executive Officer and Member of the Leadership Team, said: "Our Chairman of the Board of Directors has explained to you the strengthening of our company and our confidence in the future. Let me highlight our initiatives which have been at the heart of our success.

"First of all, Aperam's success is the result of a community of 9,400 employees which have worked hard to make Aperam an indisputable leader of its industry. I thank each one of our employees for their dedication in strengthening the sustainability of our Company. Health and Safety of our people is our top priority, and we will continue to work on the safety, health, development, and diversity of our workforce. Since day one, we have focussed on increasing our competitiveness so as to perform successfully in any environment. Over the past decade we realised more than EUR 730 million improvements via the Leadership Journey(R)️ and we have invested EUR 1.3 billion in our plants. We also strengthened our balance sheet, and our net financial debt is today less than 1 tenth of the level when Aperam was created. We are proud to serve today the most innovative and demanding solutions to our customers thanks to our integrated distribution and R&D.

"To conclude, I believe Aperam is well-positioned to continue to perform another ten years from now: we have quality employees, we have a competitive asset base, we have high R&D capabilities and innovative products. Beyond and most importantly we are also sustainable by design: our products are endless recyclable and we have an industry leading CO2 footprint based on our own forest to produce charcoal, and our use of recycled stainless steel."

About Aperam

Aperam is a global player in stainless, electrical and specialty steel, with customers in over 40 countries. The business is organised in three primary operating segments: Stainless & Electrical Steel, Services & Solutions and Alloys & Specialties.

Aperam has a flat Stainless and Electrical steel capacity of 2.5 million tonnes in Brazil and Europe and is a leader in high value specialty products. In addition to its industrial network, spread over six production facilities in Brazil, Belgium and France, Aperam has a highly integrated distribution, processing and services network and a unique capability to produce stainless and special steels from low cost biomass (charcoal made from its own FSC-certified forestry).

In 2020, Aperam had sales of EUR 3,624 million and steel shipments of 1.68 million tonnes.

For further information, please refer to our website at www.aperam.com

Contact

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