“We hope to develop Nigeria into a regional hub for ArcelorMittal’s products targeting the oil and gas industry,’ Sudhir Maheshwari, the company’s vice president of finance and M&A, said in the statement.
Spending on infrastructure for the energy industry worldwide is set to total $22 trillion by 2030 as demand rises in emerging-market economies, according to the Paris-based International Energy Agency. ArcelorMittal is increasing investment in Africa and said in mid-November that it was developing a manganese-ore project in South Africa to supply half the company’s needs for the metal used to toughen steel. The steelmaker is also building a bar rolling mill in Mozambique with an annual capacity of 400,000 tons, and plans to develop coal and iron-ore mining projects in the country.