Obama thanks Lakshmi Mittal for US investment

After it suspended operations and furloughed workers a few years back, ArcelorMittal steel works in Cleveland, Ohio in a strong bounce back not only brought back the workers but also hired 150 more over the last four years to take place among the most productive plants in the world.

On a tour of the sprawling facility, President Barack Obama said the story of the plant was the story of America over the last five years.

''I want to thank your CEO, Lakshmi Mittal, for investing in America and the Cleveland area,'' he said as a beaming Mittal looked on. ''We appreciate him.''

ArcelorMittal bought the 100-year-old plant in 2005.  Mittal, however, did not get a chance to visit the facility since but was there to receive the president, and give him a tour.

The Cleveland plant caters mainly to the automotive industry and had been upgrading its technology for lighter, stronger steel needed for clean, fuel-efficient vehicles.

The plant, which operates two blast furnaces is capable of producing 3.8 million tonnes of raw steel annually.

According to Mittal, this year alone, the company had invested $70 million in Cleveland. He said the investment supported the creation of 150 new jobs.

Highlighting economic recovery on his watch, starting in 2009, Obama said, ''Over the last 44 months, our businesses have created 7.8 million new jobs....Last month, another 200,000 Americans went back to work.''

''It's a great honour for all of us at ArcelorMittal Cleveland to welcome President Obama here. We've been making steel in Cleveland for one hundred years,'' Mittal said in his welcome address.

''The link between Cleveland's success and our investment in advanced high strength steel has been important to our success,'' Mittal said.

In the coming years, he added, ''We will help our automotive customers meet the demanding fuel-efficiency standards that will be required in the run up to 2025.''

In a novel gesture, Mittal handed over the mike to his employee Tom Scott, who had worked at the plant for 40 years as a crane operator, to introduce the president.

Obama praised ArcelorMittal for turning the factory around, after it had almost shutdown during the economic recession at the beginning of his presidential term.