Luxembourg - ArcelorMittal, the world's biggest steel producer on Wednesday posted a first quarter net loss of around 1.1 billion dollars, down from a profit of 2.4 billion a year ago. Quarterly sales halved from around 30 billion dollars to 15 billion dollars, the Luxembourg-based company announced.

ArcelorMittal's earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) fell by 2.8 billion dollars to 883 million dollars).

CEO Lakshmi Mittal said he expected to see a second quarter improvement in EBITA to up 1.5 billion dollars. The company's liquidity remains healthy.

"Although market conditions remain challenging, a technical recovery is inevitable and ArcelorMittal will benefit from this," he said.(dpa)