Mexican Group SIMEC's Brazilian Steel Mill Nears Completion

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources Latin America (Cordoba, Argentina)--GV do Brasil Industria e Comercio de Aco Limitada (Pindamonhangaba), a subsidiary of Grupo SIMEC S.A.B de C.V. (Guadalajara), the leading mini-mill steel producer in Mexico, is close to kicking off operations at its first steel mill outside North America. The new facility will be in the city of Pindamonhagaba, 150 kilometers from Sao Paulo, in southern Brazil. It is expected to be worth more than $350 million.

The steel mill will produce 450,000 tons per year of long-steel products, 70% of which will be steel bars and 30% steel wire rods. The melt shop will be equipped with a 65-ton electric arc furnace, a 65-ton ladle furnace and a continuous caster, with three to five strands. The equipment was supplied by SMS Concast AG (Zurich, Switzerland) and the same group, through SMS Meer Gmbh (Mönchengladbach, Germany), will provide a 100 ton-per-hour walking-beam furnace for the single-strand rolling mill.

CONFAB Industrial S.A. (Pindamonhangaba, Brazil) is in charge of the mechanical and electromechanical assembly. The melt shop is expected to begin operations in December, and the rolling mill is set to kick off in February 2014.

The company is conducting conceptual studies for a new steel mill at the same site as the Pindamonhangaba facility. This mill is being designed to produce a special type of steel for mechanical construction, and it could produce 450,000 tons per year of long-steel products. The project could be worth more than $350 million.

Grupo SIMEC began operations in 1969 in Guadalajara, Mexico. The Group currently owns eight steel facilities in Mexico, five in the U.S. and one in Canada. The 2014 World Cup and 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics were major factors in the company's decision to invest in Brazil.

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