ArcelorMittal said it doesn’t expect to increase capacity in Brazil, according to media reports this week.
“In long steel, we made a strong investment at our Joao Monlevade mill in Minas Gerais, which started up and stopped three times,” said the company’s financial director, Alexandre Barcelos.
ArcelorMittal idled a rolling mill equipment at the plant last year, and earlier this year, SteelOrbis reported exclusively that the steelmaker put a hold on several capacity increase projects in Brazil, including a rise in HDG capacity, meltshop capacity and liquid steel capacity.
Speaking at an industry event in São Paulo this week, Barcelos said total investments in Joao Monlevade reach $1 billion and were expected to add 1.1 million mt of finished steel capacity to ArcelorMittal in Brazil.
Barcelos added that since ArcelorMittal is receiving support from the company’s headquarters, the Brazilian subsidiary is able to cope with the crisis.
Exports are also said to be helping the steelmaker, as domestic demand remains sluggish.