Global steel giant ArcelorMittal said Friday that "positive market momentum" and rising shipments enabled it to swing back into profit in the first quarter of 2017. ArcelorMittal said in a statement that it booked a bottom-line profit of $1.0 billion (920 million euros) in the period from January to March, compared with a net loss of 416 million euros a year earlier.

Underlying profit more than doubled to $1.6 billion while first-quarter sales jumped by 20 percent to $16.1 billion, the statement said. "I am satisfied with the first-quarter results, which reflect the anticipated positive momentum in the market and the progress we are making internally to make the business stronger," said chief executive Lakshmi Mittal. "All parts of the business" reported an improvement in underlying earnings, Mittal said.

"Steel prices responded to higher raw material costs and strong volume growth saw steel shipments increase by 5.1 percent compared with the fourth quarter." Looking ahead, ArcelorMittal expected market conditions "to be broadly stable in the second quarter," the CEO continued.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2017