Mexican steelmaker Ahmsa launched a normalized steel plate plant, aimed at supplying the shipbuilding industry.

The US$140mn plant will have capacity of 350,000t/y of steel in its initial phase, with processing mainly carried out in the Steckel mill, according to local news website Infonor.

The capacity will be expanded to 700,000t/y in the project's second phase.

Ahmsa has provided steel plate for 15 Mexican navy vessels, and 30 more are planned in the current administration, which ends in 2018.

The plant was funded with Ahmsa's own resources and built by Primetals Technologies, an association between Austria's Siemens Vai Metals Technologies and Japanese company Mitsubishi Hitachi Metals Machinery.

Ahmsa, which recently emerged from a long-standing suspension of payments procedure, similar to bankruptcy protection, has indicated that it plans to seek financing and strategic partnerships to support its development programs.

The company, based in Coahuila state, announced a US$25mn investment in dust capture technology at a casting plant earlier this month, funded by a seven-year financing agreement.

 

Source : bnamericas.com

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