The president of ArcelorMittal in Brazil, Jefferson De Paula, told media this week that Pecem’s yearly 3.0 million mt slab production capacity could be doubled at a very low cost.
As quoted by the local newspaper Valor Economico, De Paula said that the plant, located in the northeastern state of Ceara, is a strategic unit to meet slab demand in the ArcelorMittal group in world terms, adding that the acquisition of Pecem, announced in July, still must be approved by the competition authority CADE.
According to De Paula, the current supply contracts of Pecem will be maintained for domestic and export sales.
A downstream verticalization of Pecem, toward the production of HRC, was previously considered by its owners Vale, Posco and Dongkuk, but plans were postponed when Vale decided to put for sale its share in the company.
