A judge in civil matters canceled an agreement signed in 2014 for Altos Hornos de México (AHMSA) to solve its financial restructuring process that began in 1999, and decreed the bankruptcy of the company, according to the judicial authority published in the official gazette (DOF). However, experts say that it is part of the process for the sale of the Mexican steel giant.
"The agreement dated December 16, 2014 is terminated and as a consequence Altos Hornos de México (AHMSA) is declared bankrupt," read today in the second publication (of three) of the First Court of First Instance on Matters Monclova Judicial District in the official gazette.
The judge declared the bankruptcy trustee to the Mexican Chamber of the Iron and Steel Industry (Canacero) and authorized it to request him (judge) the "authorization for the immediate contracting of credits and financing essential to maintain the ordinary operation of the company and the necessary liquidity during the bankruptcy proceedings, where the judge may authorize if it is warranted and are convenient for the conservation of the company.”
According to a financial specialist, this bankruptcy order will allow for the sale of the company, which according to public data, contributed 8.0 percent of the steel market in Mexico in 2020, 15.0 percent of the national market for flat products and two percent of Mexican exports of finished steel products. That year, production capacity was 5.5 million metric tons.
AHMSA requested the protection of- the law to restructure its debts in 1999 (under the Bankruptcy and Suspension of Payments Law, already repealed, which was in force from April 1943 to May 2000) and in 2016 the judge approved a plan to restructure debts.