Global steelmaker ArcelorMittal said it will delay the completion of a hot strip mill in Mexico from Q2 2020 to 2021, according to a Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) document filing.
ArcelorMittal said the hot strip expansion project is part of a $1 billion investment announced in September 2017.
“The programme is designed to enable ArcelorMittal Mexico to meet the anticipated increased demand requirements from domestic customers, realize in full ArcelorMittal Mexico’s production capacity of 5.3 million mt and significantly enhance the proportion of higher added-value products in its product mix,” the company said, while updating the forecast for the project.
The hot strip mill will produce 2.5 million mt of flat rolled steel. The company expects to supply hot strip steel products to domestic, non-auto, and general industry customers.
The company’s announcement came as ArcelorMittal suspended all “non-essential” capex investments, which it disclosed in a recent Q1 earnings conference call.