ArcelorMittal Plans $1 Billion Brazil Steel Rolling Mill
03 Giugno 2011 - 6:48PM
Dow Jones News
SAO PAULO (Dow Jones) -- ArcelorMittal (MT), the world's biggest
steelmaker, may invest $1 billion to install a new steel rolling
mill in Brazil to supply the country's growing flat steel products
market, the chief executive of the company's Brazilian operation
said.
The project would add 3 million metric tons a year of hot coil
rolling capacity at ArcelorMittal's Tubarao works in southeast
Brazil from 2015, ArcelorMittal Brasil CEO Benjamin Baptista Filho
said on the sidelines of the Brazilian Steel Institute IABr's
annual steel congress in Sao Paulo. A decision on the investment
will be taken in December 2012, he said.
"The basic idea is to convert Tubarao 100% to rolled steel,
principally for the domestic market, and stop exporting slabs,"
Baptista said.
Higher production costs in Brazil mean it's no longer worth
producing slabs for an export market where prices are volatile,
Baptista said. Slabs are a lower-value semi-finished form of steel
that requires further processing.
Brazil's steel market will grow 6% to 7% this year, Baptista
said. Demand will continue to increase in coming years for
flat-rolled steel products for automotive, construction and oil and
gas uses, he said.
Tubarao's planned expansion signals an about-turn in Brazil's
steel industry. The works was set up in the early 1980s as a slabs
exporter, eventually raising its capacity to 7.5 million tons a
year, becoming Brazil's biggest steel mill.
Recently ArcelorMittal installed 4 million tons a year of flat
products rolling capacity at Tubarao to produce higher-value added
products mainly for the Brazilian market.
The installation now planned will process all its slabs for use
in Brazil. The Tubarao works currently sends part of its rolled
steel output to ArcelorMittal's Vega do Sul steel galvanizing and
cold rolling works in south Brazil, where a $300 million expansion
is also planned, Baptista said.
The company is tendering for a third 550,000 tons a year
galvanizing line for Vega do Sul. This will boost the works'
processing capacity to over 2 million tons a year by late 2013,
mainly for Brazil's automotive industry, Baptista said.
- By Diana Kinch, Dow Jones Newswires Tel: 55 21 7564 4495
diana.kinch@dowjones.com
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