Steel Mills

Auction of AHMSA assets is next step in bankruptcy proceedings

Written by Laura Miller

March 7, 2025

An inventory valuation of the assets of Altos Hornos de Mexico SA (AHMSA) has been completed. Local reports suggest an auction for the assets of the bankrupt steel company could come as soon as the end of this month.

Recall that AHMSA was officially declared bankrupt in November 2023. Attorney Victor Manuel Aguilera Gomez took control of the company in December as bankruptcy trustee. On March 4, he submitted his AHMSA asset valuation report to Mexico’s Second District Court for Commercial Bankruptcy Matters.

This marked an important step in the liquidation stage of its bankruptcy proceedings, the company said on March 5.

The trustee’s report provided a detailed record of real estate, machinery, and other assets of the company’s steel operations in Monclova, Coahuila, in northeast Mexico.

AHMSA’s massive steelworks once operated three blast furnaces, an EAF, multiple continuous casters, a hot strip line, two cold strip lines, and tinning equipment. It employed some 20,000 workers and could make up to 5.5 million metric tons of hot- and cold-rolled sheet, plate, and tinplate each year.

Previous reports have suggested the assets, or whatever remains of them, are in rough condition.

A report by Mining Mexico this week suggested an auction of the assets could come as soon as the end of this month. The publication also reported Aguilera Gómez as telling workers in a letter that “Once the inventory and appraisal of the assets have been completed, the next step will be the call for the auction of assets. The announcement is scheduled for the end of March 2025.”

AHMSA noted that the trustee’s inventory valuation of its mining assets, Minera del Norte (MINOSA), is still ongoing. Mining Mexico said the trustee plans to complete his report in the second half of this month.

AHMSA could not be reached for comment.

Laura Miller

Laura Miller is a reporter and editor for Steel Market Update. She has held a variety of positions within the steel industry since 2007, including reporting and editing for Steel Business Briefing/Platts, the Association for Iron and Steel Technology, and Kallanish Commodities, as well as marketing for what was then known as ThyssenKrupp Steel USA (now AM/NS Calvert). After a five-year hiatus working across other industries, she returned to steel in 2021 and has covered the flat rolled, tubular, and trade areas of the industry. She is a member of the Association of Women in the Metal Industries and a past-president of the AWMI Pittsburgh Chapter. She holds a BA in Latin American Studies from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania. She can be reached at laura@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-759-7869.

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