Brazilian Steelmaker Announces $5.3 Billion Investment in Iron, Steel

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Brazil's Companhia Siderurgica Nacional (NYSE:SID) (CSN) (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) recently announced a $5.3 billion investment over the next six years aimed at boosting the company's iron and steel production in Brazil's southeastern state of Mina Gerais.

CSN CEO and Chairman Benjamin Steinbruch and Minas Gerais' government signed an agreement, which includes a capacity expansion of CSN's Casa de Pedra iron ore mine from 16 million tons per year to 65 million tons per year by 2011. The company will also build a 6 million-ton-per-year pellet plant, a 4.5 million-ton-per-year steel mill and two cement plants.

CSN is Brazil's second-largest steelmaker behind Vale. Company officials have revealed plans for an investment of $3.4 billion for the construction of a steel slab plant and $2.2 billion for Casa de Pedra's expansion. All of the iron ore that CSN uses comes from Casa de Pedra. About $850 million will be spent on the new facilities, which will be built specifically for pellet production.

CSN was founded in 1941. As Brazil's first integrated flat-steel producer, it played a historical role in the country's industrialization. The company was privatized in 1993.

In 2006, Wheeling-Pittsburgh Corporation (Wheeling, West Virginia) and CSN's Terre Haute operations, located in Indiana, became wholly owned subsidiaries of a new holding company. For more information, view related August 25, 2006, article - Wheeling-Pitt Prepares for a Brave New Future.

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