Gerdau AmeriSteel Continues North American Expansion Plans $30 Million New Melt Shop for Southeastern U.S. Steel Mill

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Researched by Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Information Resources, Incorporated; Houston, Texas). Gerdau AmeriSteel (Tampa, Florida), a majority owned subsidiary of international steel producer, Gerdau S.A. (NYSE:GGB) (Porto Alegre, Brazil) based in Brazil, plans to build a new melt shop and upgrade a 4-strand caster at its 620,000 ton per year steel billet, rebar, and wire rod mill located in Baldwin, Florida steel mill.

Construction is scheduled to commence in the second quarter of 2005 and completed in the fourth quarter of 2005. Capacity of the melt shop will increase by 20,000 - 30,000 ton per year after construction of the new electric arc furnace, but the main reason behind the $30 million project is to make the plant more efficient.

Gerdau AmeriSteel was created late last year by the merger of Gerdau SA's (Porto Alegre, Brazil) (NYSE:GGB) North American holdings and Co-Steel, Incorporated (Whitby, Ontario). For details on Gerdau's Growth in North America over the past two years including a map of operations and capacity see archived IIR industry Alerts: Gerdau Steel's Acquisition and Growth Mode Continues.

Gerdau has made progress this year with the integration of its eleven North American steel mills, including upgrades to its Canadian mills and management changes at many of its mills in the U.S. and Canada, since the merger. Don't expect Gerdau to stop its growth mode anytime soon. The company is said to be eyeing several possible acquisitions in North America, including Georgetown Steel in South Carolina.

Gerdau AmeriSteel is the second largest minimill steel producer in the world. The Jacksonville steel mill has approximately 300 employees and has been in operation since the mid 1970's.