Ternium prepares to refurbish steel mill blast furnace in Brazil -sources

Companhia Siderurgica Nacional SA

24/05/2022 21:40

By Rodrigo Viga Gaier
    RIO DE JANEIRO, May 24 (Reuters) - Steelmaker Ternium  TX.N 
is set to invest around 1.3 billion reais ($269.63 million) in a
major overhaul of one of the two blast furnaces in its steel
mill in the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro, two sources close
to the matter said on Tuesday.
    The project has already started to be analyzed as the
equipment's life cycle, of 2.5 million tonnes of annual
capacity, is set to end in 2024. The renovation and
modernization is also expected to take months to complete, the
sources said.
    Ternium declined to comment.
    The plans come at a time when Brazilian steelmaker Usiminas
 USIM5.SA , in which Ternium shares a controlling interest, is
also preparing for the renovation of the largest blast furnace
at its Ipatinga plant in Minas Gerais state, a task that should
take 110 days to be carried out from April 2023.
    Ternium's Rio de Janeiro plant, known as Companhia
Siderurgica do Atlantico (CSA), has two blast furnaces, each
with a capacity for 2.5 million tonnes of steel per year.
    The idea is to rebuild the thermal insulation of the blast
furnace and update auxiliary technology.
    The sources added that Ternium is producing around 4.5
million tonnes a year at the Rio de Janeiro unit, with a good
part of the output being exported.
 ($1 = 4.8215 reais)

 (Reporting by Rodrigo Viga Gaier in Rio de Janeiro
Writing by Carolina Pulice
Editing by Matthew Lewis)
 ((carolina.pulice@tr.com;))