The group’s chief financial officer, Genuino Christino, told analysts on the sidelines of the company’s first-quarter results presentation that the company was “contributing steel to the White House Ballroom”.

“So, approximately 600 tonnes have been delivered to date,” he added, according to a transcript published by FactSet and consulted by AFP on Monday.

“We have a track record of both supplying strong high-quality steels to US customers and donating steel to iconic buildings and projects around the world.”

They include the Freedom Tower constructed on the site of the former World Trade Center in New York, Christino added.

According to a source familiar with the matter who was contacted by AFP, the 600 tonnes already delivered represents about 20 to 30 percent of the 2,000 to 3,000 tonnes of steel needed for the construction.

ArcelorMittal has offered to supply all of the steel for the project, most of it produced in the group’s electric steel mills in Luxembourg, at a total cost of about 2,000 euros (US$2340) per tonne, the source added.

The group declined to comment when contacted.

The New York Times reported in early April that Luxembourg-based multinational ArcelorMittal had donated tens of millions of dollars’ worth of foreign steel for Trump’s ballroom project.