Austrian plantmaker Siemens Metals Technologies has announced that it will expand the annual capacity of the heat treatment line of Mexican steel producer Altos Hornos de México S.A.B de C.V. (AHMSA) at the company's Monclova plant.
The heat treatment line processes carbon steel plates produced by a Steckel rolling mill, with thicknesses between 4.5 mm and 50.8 mm and widths of 1,500 mm to 3,048 mm. The plates can be between 3,000 mm and 16,000 mm long.
The expansion will see the heat treatment line's capacity increasing to 300,000 mt of plate per year from 200,000 mt per year. The expanded line is scheduled to become operational in the third quarter of 2015.
AHMSA generates more than 3.8 million mt of crude steel every year. The company primarily produces flat rolled steel, including hot and cold rolled coils, heavy plates, tin-coated and tin-free sheets, and a variety of heavy sections.