A Mexican union said the country’s largest integrated steelmaker, Altos Hornos de Mexico (AHMSA), is buying slabs from China in order to produce plate and rolled steel.
According to the nation’s democratic union, the move was needed because AHMSA has been experiencing “failures” at its coking plant in the past few years.
Such failures have been forcing the company to purchase steel from other countries, even despite the complaints of local producers, including AHMSA, itself, against what they label as the “unfair” competition with the foreign steel.
Ismael Leija, general secretary at the nation’s democratic union, said the “failures” at AHMSA’s coking plant are a result of the lack of supply of coke gas. The lack of the feedstock has been reducing the company’s production volumes.
According to Leija, the purchase of steel from China is provisional, while AHMSA solves the issues with its coking plant.