ArcelorMittal swung to an attributable net loss in the second quarter of US$447 million, or 44 U.S. cents per share, from a year-ago net income of US$1.87 billion, or US$1.83 per share.

The quarter's results included impairment charges of US$947 million, including US$347 related to the remedy asset sales for the ArcelorMittal Italia acquisition and a US$600 million impairment of the fixed assets of ArcelorMittal USA following a drop in steel prices and high raw material costs.

Sales for the quarter slid 3.6% year over year to US$19.28 billion mainly due to lower average steel selling prices, partially offset by higher steel shipments.

Operating loss in the three months stood at US$158 million, compared to an operating profit of US$2.36 billion a year ago, according to the Aug. 1 earnings release.

Steel shipments in the quarter climbed 4.8% year over year to 22.8 million tonnes due to strong performance in Europe. Iron ore shipped at market prices slipped to 9.9 Mt from 10.0 Mt.

Crude steel production increased to 23.8 Mt from 23.2 Mt, while own iron ore production improved to 14.6 Mt from 14.5 Mt.

In the first half, ArcelorMittal's net loss totaled US$33 million, or 0.03 cents per share, from a year-ago net income of US$3.06 billion, or US$2.99 per share.

Sales for the half declined 1.8% year over year to US$38.47 billion as higher steel shipments only partially offset lower average steel selling prices.

ArcelorMittal recently decided to redeem all of the outstanding US$324.2 million of its 5.125% notes and US$625.6 million of its 5.250% notes due 2020.