Erick Torres, CEO of ArcelorMittal Pecem, the slab producer located in the Brazilian northeastern state of Ceará, announced in a conference last week that he has received from the headquarters of the company the authorization to invest $9 million in a viability study to build a rolling plant.
According to the local press, the information was unveiled during a panel in the state capital, Fortaleza, about renewable energy, with the companies of the sector that have operations in the state: Fortescue, Casa dos Ventos, Vestas, Aeris and ArcelorMittal.
Torres added that the new project will focus on high quality flat green steel products, based on green hydrogen to be produced by a hydrogen production hub located in the port of Pecem.
He mentioned that the Pecem plant has the potential to acquire all the hydrogen produced in the hub if the rolling project is approved.
Meanwhile, Fernando Elias, manager of the wind energy producer Casa dos Ventos, mentioned that the government should launch the auctions to build new transmission lines linking the green energy plants to the Port of Pecem, as the existing ones are currently overcharged, and this is a problem for the start of operations of the hydrogen hub.