Luxembourg-based steelmaker ArcelorMittal again deferred by six months the start of operations of its $150 million investment project to increase iron ore pellet production at its Las Truchas mining complex, in the western state of Michoacán. Now the tentative date is for the second half of 2025, according to company information seen by SteelOrbis.
With the new postponement, the entry into operation of the project that was approved in 2021 to increase the annual production capacity of iron pellets by 1.0 million metric tons (mt) to go from 1.3 to 2.3 million mt, accumulates two years of delay.
The original project was scheduled to come into operation in the second half of 2023. There are already several deferrals. Prior to the new one, the date was the first half of 2024 and now it could be in the second half, if no more problems arise.
SteelOrbis requested details of the new deferral from the ArcelorMittal Mexico press office. As of publication, there was no response.
At the beginning of 2023, ArcelorMittal México reported that due to delays in the delivery of equipment, progress of works and permits with the Mexican authorities, the project would take another year. Although today, it confirms that the start will be until 2025.
ArcelorMittal is one of the largest steel companies in Mexico, last year it manufactured 3.8 million mt of rod, wire rod, wire, among others. In Mexico it also produces slabs, billets, bars and tubes. In tubes, in the second half of last year, it put its #5 welded tube plants into operation in the industrial capital of Mexico, in Monterrey, Nuevo León.
According to the Mexican government, through the Ministry of Economy, ArcelorMittal México has been producing rolled steel plates since 2022.