Market Segment
December 15, 2021
ArcelorMittal Mexico's Hot Strip Mill Ramping Up on Schedule
Written by David Schollaert
ArcelorMittal Mexico anticipates a run rate of roughly 70% by year’s end at its new hot strip mill in the Michoacan province.
Executives lauded the production ramp-up of the new 2.75-million-ton hot strip mill during the company’s earnings call late last week, noting the facility’s output could be around 1.50 to 1.75 million tons in 2022 at its steelmaking complex in Lazaro Cardenas.
“The ramp-up is progressing well,” said Genuino Christino, Arcelor’s executive VP and CFO. “Our expectation is that in the second half we should be reaching a 60% to 70% run rate.”
Due to the steadily increased run rate, the Luxembourg-based steelmaker anticipates a strong earnings contribution for the 2022 calendar year from the steelmaking complex.
“By the end of 2023, we should be really running full out,” added Christino. “We clearly expect good progress this year, good contribution, and then more in 2023.”
ArcelorMittal’s new hot strip mill is one of a several sheet capacity expansions underway in North America. Details on that new capacity can be found on SMU’s new capacity table. The more than 20 million tons of new capacity displayed there should be read in conjunction with SMU’s blast furnace status table. The latter provides some important context: how much integrated capacity has been idled over the last decade.
By David Schollaert, David@SteelMarketUpdate.com
