The management of the ArcelorMittal steel maker in Galati, the largest exporter in Romania, believes the situation on the steel market can deteriorate no further, but expects the crisis to last for a long time, and the recovery to be gradual. "From this moment on, we no longer expect a deterioration in orders or in prices. A recovery could be perhaps expected starting in the second half of the year, however, we don't think it will be abrupt, but gradual. In my opinion it will take at least two years until we reach the 2008 production level. Two weeks ago we carried out an analysis, and concluded this crisis would last for a while," said Augustine Kochuparampil, CEO of ArcelorMittal Galati in one of the few occasions when he talked with the Romanian press. In the first three months of this year, the production of the Galati plant was down to around 40-45% of the last few years' levels, which ranged from 3.5 to 3.9 million tonnes of liquid steel a year. Steel prices have also gone down by 50-60% depending on the type of steel.
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