ArcelorMittal, the world’s leading steel and mining company, has taken its first step towards integrated reporting with its 2015 online annual review, ‘Structural resilience’.

The online review combines ArcelorMittal’s sustainability progress with its operational and financial performance highlights in a single report, incorporating a number of elements of the integrated reporting framework.

The annual review comes as ArcelorMittal unveils a new approach to sustainability reporting, providing stakeholders with a rolling series of updates on the company’s performance, whilst integrating the its annual sustainability performance and progress within the company‘s Annual review.

In the first of these developments, ArcelorMittal has launched a more continuous form of sustainability reporting via its main website in place of its annual online sustainability report. Here, developments from across the group are provided to stakeholders outcome by outcome, day by day. Importantly, the company will also publish a quarterly leadership review of its sustainability progress.

The second development is the ArcelorMittal’s first big step towards integrated reporting in its Annual review, released on 28 April. Introducing the report, Chairman and CEO Lakshmi N Mittal says, “We have three clear imperatives for long term success. The first is a strong balance sheet; the second is an efficient asset base producing quality products capable of delivering enhanced levels of returns; and the third is strong sustainability credentials.”

The review features a number of elements of the integrated reporting framework in line with best practice – a short and long-term analysis of the steel and mining company's external context; an outline of the risks and opportunities associated with each of its material issues (which it refers to as its 10 sustainable development outcomes), such its supply chains; an explanation of its business strategy, and the ways in which it creates value for society in terms of four ‘capitals’ – natural, social, human and products (or ‘manufactured capital’).

Key highlights of ArcelorMittal’s sustainable development progress in 2015 include:

  • US$63,316bn directly contributed to the economies in which ArcelorMittal operates and sources from - US$47bn in our supply chain alone, US$11bn in salaries, wages and pensions, and a further US$936m in taxes.

  • 17 products aimed at a more fuel efficient automotive industry were launched during the year, with 100 more are in the pipeline.

  • The completion of a number of circular economy construction projects including: a 57-storey building in Changsa, China; the prototype ‘b-home’, a modular housing system made of steel, in Avilés, Spain, and the development of a lease-use-refurbish model for sheet piles.

  • ArcelorMittal joining the executive boards of two international certification schemes to drive the development of global social and environmental standards for the steel and the mining industries.

  • A 4.5% reduction in CO2 per tonne of steel produced by the group, to 2.14 tonnes. Our target is to reach an 8% reduction by 2020.

  • 30% of our steel was made from scrap (the ‘recycled input rate’), avoiding the emission of 37 million tonnes of CO2.

  • 13 environmental investment projects completed at Ostrava plant in the Czech Republic, applying state-of-the-art de-dusting technology to every part of the steelmaking process and reducing its dust emissions to 0.3kg per tonne of steel (ts). Across the group we have recorded a 22% reduction in dust/ts since 2010, down to 0.65kg/ts in 2015.

Dr Alan Knight, general manager, corporate responsibility at ArcelorMittal said: “This is a big step forward for us in how we tell our stakeholders what we’re doing about our material issues. Our new approach to sustainability reporting means we’re making it easier for people to follow the progress on our 10 outcomes, by providing all our updates in one place. And with the launch of our new integrated annual review, we’re making the connections between our sustainable development performance and our operational performance for the first time”.

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