Washington, London-based India-born billionaire Lakshmi Niwas Mittal has been elected chairman of the World Steel Association (worldsteel), which represents about 180 steel producers from across the globe.

Mittal's election as chairman till October 2009 was announced Monday after a meeting here of the board of directors of the association, which also changed its name from the earlier International Iron and Steel Institute.

The Indian steel magnate was also elected as member of the worldsteel executive committee, while Naveen Jindal-led Jindal Steel and Power Ltd joined the association as an associate member in the category of steel companies producing less than two million short tonnes per annum, a statement from the association said.

The new vice-chairmen elected to the worldsteel were Ku-Taek Lee, chairman and CEO of POSCO; Paolo Rocca, chairman and CEO of Techint Group; and John Surma, chairman and CEO of US Steel.

On behalf of the board of directors, director general of the World Steel Association Ian Christmas welcomed Mittal as the new chairman.

"The board of directors expressed their gratitude to Ku-Taek Lee as he completes his year as chairman and gave a warm welcome to Lakshmi Mittal. We are delighted to welcome our new members on board," Christmas said.

"Since we were formed in 1967 the world for steel has substantially changed and so has this organisation. We are now a truly global body representing 18 of the world's 20 largest steel companies, including six of the top 10 producers in China," he added.

Besides Mittal, the 2008/9 executive committee includes: Hajime Bada, JFE Steel Corporation; Daniel DiMicco, Nucor Corporation; Jorge Gerdau Johannpeter, Gerdau SA; Karl-Ulrich Köhler, ThyssenKrupp AG; Ku-Taek Lee, POSCO; Alexey Mordashov, Severstal JSC; Shoji Muneoka, Nippon Steel Corporation; M. Aydin Müderrisoglu, Erdemir; Paolo Rocca, Techint Group; John Surma, US Steel Corporation; Sakari Tamminen, Rautaruukki Oyj, Philippe Varin, Corus Group; Lejiang Xu, Baosteel Group; Xiaogang Zhang, Anshan Iron & Steel Corporation; Ian Christmas, World Steel Association.

Four new companies - Badische Stahlwerke GmbH, Deacero, S.A. de C.V, Laiwu Steel Group Ltd and Metalloinvest Management Company - were inducted as regular members, companies producing more than two million short tonnes per annum.

The Malaysian Iron & Steel Federation was taken as an affiliated member (steel industry institutes and associations).

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