ArcelorMittal Mexico plans to test its new mill that is slated to produce 2.5mn mt of flat-rolled and long steel per year in Q2 2021.
The steelmaker plans to reach an estimated production capacity of 217,000mt per month after the start-up curve, before reaching full capacity during the last quarter of the year, Victor Cairo, general director at the company told a media outlet on Monday.
The hot strip mill expansion project in Mexico is part of a $1bn investment, which was announced in September 2017. The steel products from this mill will be supplied to the domestic market and will help to replace steel imports.
Mexico’s steel imports reached 13mn mt in 2019, from 13.1mn mt in 2018. Mexican crude steel production decreased by 8.3pc to 16.8mn mt in 2020, from 18.3mn mt produced in 2019, according to the figures released by the World Steel Association.