ArcelorMittal, the world's largest steelmaker, has agreed to sell a 50 percent stake in its shipping business, the first step in its plan to offload $2 billion of assets by the middle of 2021 to reduce its debt

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The company, whose net debt stood at $10.7 billion at the end of September, said on Monday the sale of the stake in Global Chartering Ltd (GCL) to DryLog Ltd would cut its debt by $530 million. It has a target to pull it below $7 billion.

ArcelorMittal said it expected to close the deal before the end of this year.

GCL operates 28 dry cargo vessels, 25 of which are on long-term leases and three owned outright, and will continue to handle a share of ArcelorMittal's shipments.

Drylog is a subsidiary of Greek shipping company Ceres.