World’s largest steel company ArcelorMittal has reported a net loss of $728 million on Thursday for the first quarter ended March 31.

“The company, controlled by NRI billionaire Lakshmi Mittal, had reported a net loss of $205 million in the year-ago period”, it said in a statement.

“Net sales of the steel major fell by 13.5 per cent to $17.12 billion during January-March from $19.79 billion in the same quarter last fiscal”, it added.

The Chairman and CEO Lakshmi Mittal of ArcelorMittal said, “We faced a number of headwinds, including a declining iron-ore price, stronger dollar and surge of imports in the US.”

“The performance in Europe was of particular note, with EBITDA improving 15 per cent year-on-year”, he added.

“We are focused on achieving a 15 per cent reduction in mining costs and improving the competitive position of our US operations,” Mittal said.