ArcelorMittal published its Q1 2021 results on Thursday indicating a $2.6bn operating income for the steel giant, up from $2bn the previous quarter. It’s a quarter that Aditya Mittal, ArcelorMittal Chief Executive Officer, called “our strongest in a decade.” In addition to operating income growth, EBITDA also increased by 88% to $3.2bn, compared to $1.7bn in Q4 2020. Demand recovery improved ArcelorMittal’s operating performance in the first quarter of the year, with a +6.5% sequential increase in steel shipments (total steel shipments for the quarter were 16.5Mt). Despite a working capital investment of $1.6bn, free cash flow was recorded as $0.3bn, while gross debt declined from $12.3bn at the end of 2020 to $11.4bn.