Lakshmi Mittal has every reason to look pleased. Since Mittal Steel's €26.9bn ($36.5bn) takeover of Luxembourg-based Arcelor last year to create Arcelor Mittal, the world's biggest steelmaker, events could hardly have gone better for the Indian entrepreneur.

On the back of concerted management efforts led by Mr Mittal to integrate the two companies, a healthy climate for steel demand and no signs of discontent by former Arcelor executives who for much of last year opposed the proposed deal, Arcelor Mittal's share price has risen strongly since the deal was announced last June. Over this time, it has outperformed the global average of all quoted stocks by 27.7 per cent.