The Brazilian steel giant Gerdau is mulling building a special steel plant in Mexico, a unit with a capacity of 600,000 mt to serve the automotive market. If the investment is approved, this plant will be the company's second largest, only surpassed by the one located in the border city of Monroe, Michigan.
“Gerdau announces to its shareholders and the market that it will initiate a feasibility survey for a potential investment for the construction of a greenfield unit in Mexico, dedicated to the production of special steels (SBQ), with an estimated capacity of 600,000 mt per year,” the company informed the stock market.
If approved, the new SBQ plant in Mexico will be the second largest of Gerdau's current six plants. In the United States it has three, the largest is the one located in Monroe with 730,000 mt, the one located in Fort Smith, Arkansas is 500,000 mt and the one in Jackson, Michigan is 280,000 mt.
In Brazil the company has three SBQ plants in the cities of Charqueadas, Pindamonhangaba and Mogi das Cruzes with production capacity of 430,000 mt, 530,000 mt and 280,000 mt, respectively.
The SBQ plant will be the first in Mexico, where it operates three plants with a production capacity of 1.5 million mt of raw steel and a capacity of 1.35 million mt of rolled products.
According to the company, the potential new investment is due to the positive outlook for the local automotive industry and the relocation of companies from Asia to Mexico to serve the United States market.
If approved, the plant will be equipped with the most advanced technologies available in the market, it will also use scrap as raw material, ensuring that the future unit produces steel with low carbon emissions.