Brazilian long steel producer Votorantim Siderurgia announced this week it will not shut down its Barra Mansa mill, located in the city of same name in the state of Rio de Janeiro. The mill halted production at its steel shop in October 2016.
“The past two years have been challenging for Brazil’s steel sector. Unfortunately, we had to halt production at our steel shop [at the Barra Mansa mill] due to a sluggish demand for longs in Brazil. But we expect to resume [production] in January,” said the company’s director for South America, Marcelo Passos.
Without providing further details, the executive said Votorantim plans to open in 2017 a distribution center in the city.
Votorantim’s steel shop at its Barra Mansa mill uses pig iron to produce steel, and has an 800,000 mt/year capacity.