Latin America-focused steelmaker Ternium plans to inaugurate a delayed Colombian mill project in November, according to a media report from La Republica. The longs mill will be located in the city of Palmar de Varela and will have a 520,000 mt/year capacity, according to data released from Ternium.
The new steel bar and coil facility was first expected to be completed during 2019. The project launch was then delayed to April this year, and again to November, following the Covid-19 pandemic. The facility will increase Ternium’s existing capacity in Colombia by 250 percent.
The media report said Colombian steel consumption reaches about 1.5 million mt per year, out of which the local industry supplies 1 million mt.
The rest of the 500,000 mt/year demand is met by steel imports, which Ternium expects to meet with the new longs rolling mill.
Ternium owns several facilities in Colombia, including the Manizales mini-mill, located in Caldas, which produces billets and rebar, and the Barranquilla unit, a steel service center that produces slitted, cut-to-length, drawn wire, wire mesh and customized rebar-based products.