Mexico-based Ternium reported that its new slab steel mill will be built in Nuevo Leon, in the vicinity of its current Ternium Industrial Center in Pesqueria, the integrated project will require $3.2 billion and could start operations in the first half of 2026, the company reported.
“Very happy to announce that our new steel mill will be in Pesqueria. $3.2 billion for Nuevo Leon and for Mexico,” Ternium CEO Maximo Vedoya said in a message on his personal Twitter account.
“Ternium expects construction to begin in December 2023, with the start of operations expected during the first half of 2026,” the company informed the financial markets.
In February, the steelmaker announced the construction of a new mini-mill in the USMCA region to meet the domestic content requirements required by that trade agreement between the United States, Canada and Mexico. Currently, part of the slab is imported from its operations in Brazil.
The new electric arc furnace (EAF) steel mill with an annual capacity of 2.6 million metric tons (mt) and a direct reduced iron (DRI) plant with an annual capacity of 2.1 million mt. The DRI plant will have the possibility of changing the consumption of natural gas for hydrogen.
In addition, investment will be made in a port facility for the handling of raw materials. According to experts, the closest port is Altamira, Tamaulipas, 315 miles southeast of Pesqueria by highway. Although the service could be served by rail through Ferromex, one of the units of Grupo México Transportes (GMXT).
Data from the World Steel Association, Mexico was in 2021 the fifteenth largest steel producer in the world with 18.5 million mt. Although the country has a deficit, in the last 30 years, the balance of the steel trade balance has been negative for Mexico. In 2022, the steel trade deficit exceeded $17.0 billion.
This direct foreign investment, in addition to generating jobs, will strengthen the steel production chain and support the import substitution strategy.
According to a past report from the consulting firm Deloitte México, steel consumption is driven by the automotive industry, construction, pipe manufacturing, and white line production, among others.