Mexican steel company Grupo Simec announced it plans to use part of its $1.2 billion in cash to expand plants in Apizaco, Tlaxcala, San Luis Potosí and Brazil.
In its fourth quarter financial report, the company said it has a "very solid financial situation; no debts with the financial system" and more than $1.2 billion in cash that helps one of its objectives: growth.
The company also reported that one of its main objectives is "to assess the opportunities for the acquisition of steel companies in Mexico and abroad."
Geography is important for the investment priority, in the first place are companies in Mexico, in second place those located in the United States and Canada, in third priority those of the rest of the South American continent, and in fourth place in the rest of the world.
Another objective is to continue investing in the mini-steel mills of Apizaco (with two electric arc furnaces) and Luis Potosí (four electric arc furnaces).
In addition, the company plans to join with its parent Industrias CH in the Río Bravo Tamaulipas project, approved in 2014 to manufacture up to 600 thousand tons of special steels (SBQ) with an approximate investment of $600 million.
In 2022, Simec sold 2.25 million mt of steel, 67.9 percent of which was commercial profiles and the remaining 32.1 percent was SBQ. As a reference and using today's exchange parity, in 2022 the average price of the commercial profile was $1,199/mt and the price of the SBQ was $1,455/mt.