Steel Mills

ArcelorMittal Mexico to import from sister mills as it works to resume DRI production

September 10, 2025

ArcelorMittal has partially restarted operations at its direct reduction plant in Lazaro Cardenas, Michoacan, in Mexico.

An explosion on Aug. 18 rocked the massive steelworks on Mexico’s Pacific coast, impacting production of direct-reduced iron (DRI).

Two of four HYL reactors are now back to operating at full capacity, according to a Sept. 2 statement from the company. Each reactor has an annual capacity of ~500,000 metric tons (mt).

A fifth module that utilizes Midrex technology was not affected by last month’s explosion. Its annual capacity is 1.2 million mt.

The company said it completed due diligence to identify the cause of the August incident, but failed to provide further details.

It expects to resume full DRI production by the end of November.

In the meantime, the mill plans to maximize its scrap usage in production processes and source raw materials from other ArcelorMittal group companies.

It said it will purchase HBI from its sister plant in the US near Corpus Christi, Texas, and import slabs from ArcelorMittal Brazil to maintain hot-rolled coil production.

This is “a good example of how ArcelorMittal through its internal synergies can mitigate in an expedited manner any operational interruptions as the one we just went through,” the company said.

Laura Miller

Laura Miller is a reporter and editor for Steel Market Update. Since 2007, she has held various editorial and marketing positions with steel industry publications, associations, and mills. In 2021, after a five-year hiatus working across other industries, she returned to steel trade journalism, joining SMU in 2022. 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.