Mexican mining firm, Autlán, announced last Friday that due to the signs of improvement in the worldwide steel industry, it has resumed operations in its ferroalloy plant in Durango, Mexico after a nearly year-long idle.
"Towards the second quarter of this year, the steel industry has started giving in signs of a recuperation in the production, and a reactivation of the demand of ferroalloys has been seen from the firm's clients," Autlán reported to the Mexican Stock Exchange.
Autlán reported that it will soon resume operations at other furnaces as well, allowing the company to operate at full capacity again by the fourth quarter of this year.The Durango plant, which represents 14 percent of the company's total production, was closed back in November 2008 due to a sharp drop in demand from the steel industry.
Autlán, the largest ferroalloy producer in Mexico, reported a 68 percent drop in their sales in H1 2009 compared to first-half 2008 sales.