Sometimes a company prays for a strong Chinese economy not so that it can sell more products to China, but so that the country will sell fewer products to the world.
Take ArcelorMittal. Its revenues rose by 20 per cent last year to $94bn, and its crude steel output edged up to 91.9m tons. The distance separating ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steelmaker, from second-placed Hebei Iron & Steel of China is impressive. It is as if a gold medallist at London’s upcoming Olympics were to throw the javelin almost twice as far as the silver medallist.
There is, however, a twist. Lakshmi Mittal, ArcelorMittal’s founder, puts a brave face on matters, but the truth is that his company produces and sells little steel in China. Beijing refuses to let foreign steelmakers take majority stakes in large Chinese companies, so ArcelorMittal, which makes only about 7 per cent of its steel in China, must rest content with two modest joint ventures.