In Summary:
- Liberian activist Martin K. N. Kollie claimed in a Facebook post on May 27 that ArcelorMittal exported 6.4 million metric tons of Liberia’s iron ore and generated US$477.2 million, citing the 15th EITI Report.
- We have verified this claim by reviewing the 15TH LEITI Report and found it to be correct.
- Between July 2021 and December 2022, ArcelorMitatal exported 6.4 million metric tons of iron ore from Liberia and generated US$477.2 million, according to the report.
In a Facebook post on May 27, political activist Martin K. N. Kollie claimed that ArcelorMittal Liberia exported 6.4 million metric tons of iron ore from Liberia and generated US$477.2 million, citing the 15th EITI Report.
Kollie made this claim while sharing a video alleging poor living conditions for Liberians working with the company.
He criticized ArcelorMittal for allegedly failing to contribute meaningfully to Liberia’s development despite the revenue it generates from the country’s resources.
The Claim
An excerpt of Martin’s post reads, “ArcelorMittal exported 6.42 million metric tons of our iron ore and generated US$477.2 million according to LEITI 15th EITI Report, 2024. But Liberian workers are sleeping in tents and containers. We have to stand up against this.”
Rating Justification
To verify whether ArcelorMittal exported 6.4 million metric tons of iron ore and generated US$477.2 million, we reviewed the 15th LEITI Report, the same source cited by Martin.
LEITI is the Liberia Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative and is part of the EITI – a global Standard to promote the open and accountable management of extractive resources. LEITI works through a Secretariat guided by a multi-stakeholder arrangement comprising the Government, civil society organizations, and private companies to improve the governance of the extractive sector in Liberia.
A review of Section 4.14 of the report shows that ArcelorMittal exported 6.4 million metric tons of iron ore between July 2021 and December 2022.
Additionally, page 132 of the same report indicates that the company generated US$477.2 million during this period. This is the value for the 6.4 million tons of Iron Ore exported from Liberia during that period by Arcelor Mittal.
Conclusion
Based on these findings, we conclude that Martin K. N. Kollie’s claim that ArcelorMittal exported 6.4 million metric tons of iron ore and generated US$477.2 million is correct.
According to the 15th LEITI Report, the company exported 6.4 million metric tons of iron ore and generated $477.2 million between June 2021 and December 2022.
