By Brazil Stock Guide – ArcelorMittal posted resilient fourth-quarter results as stronger shipments in Brazil and mining helped offset weaker steel prices, reinforcing the country’s growing strategic importance within the group’s global portfolio. EBITDA reached US$1.59 billion in the fourth quarter of 2025, up 5.6% from the previous quarter, while full-year net income climbed to US$3.2 billion.
Brazil stood out operationally. The group’s Brazilian operations generated US$341 million in EBITDA in 4Q25, a 13.3% quarter-on-quarter increase, supported by higher steel shipments—particularly slab exports—and lower unit costs. Revenue in the region rose 3.4% to US$2.9 billion, even as average steel prices fell to US$692 per tonne, reflecting a weaker mix and global price pressure.
On a full-year basis, Brazil delivered US$1.44 billion in EBITDA in 2025, down from US$1.80 billion in 2024, as softer prices weighed on margins. Even so, Brazil remained one of ArcelorMittal’s most relevant operating platforms, accounting for roughly one-fifth of group steel shipments and a significant share of its growth capex. The company invested US$728 million in Brazil during 2025, underscoring its role as a long-term value driver rather than a short-cycle margin play.
That strategic tilt is becoming clearer in the investment pipeline. Projects under commissioning at Serra Azul, in Minas Gerais, will add 4.5 million tonnes per year of DRI-quality pellet feed, while the Barra Mansa expansion increases capacity for high-value bars and sections. Together, the Brazilian projects carry an estimated EBITDA potential of about US$170 million once fully ramped up, aligned with ArcelorMittal’s broader push toward lower-carbon steelmaking and higher-margin products.
Globally, the group benefited from improved performance in Europe—helped by cost discipline and the early effects of trade protections—as well as record iron ore shipments in Liberia. These gains partially offset weaker results in North America, where pricing and maintenance issues weighed on margins. For 2026, ArcelorMittal expects steel demand outside China to grow about 2%, with Brazil positioned to benefit from export flows, infrastructure demand and its role in supplying raw materials for decarbonized steel production.
In that context, Brazil is no longer just a volume contributor within ArcelorMittal’s footprint. It is increasingly central to the group’s capital allocation strategy, combining scale, optionality in exports and a growing role in the energy-transition value chain—factors that management sees as key to sustaining structurally higher margins across cycles.