ArcelorMittal Announces Mega Investments in Brazil
Strategic Research Institute
Published on :
15 Nov, 2021, 5:22 am
ArcelorMittal, which celebrates 100 years of activities in Brazil in the long steel segment in December this year, announces that it will invest BRL 4.3 billion in its Brazilian operation from now until 2024. The investments will be made in the Monlevade Plant, in the city of João Monlevade, and in the Serra Azul Mine, in Itatiaiuçu, both in Minas Gerais. The Monlevade Plant will almost double its production capacity, going from the current 1.2 million tons/year of crude steel to 2.2 million tonnes per year in 2024. The Serra Azul Mine will have its production practically tripled from the current 1.6 million tonnes per year to 4.5 million tonnes year of iron ore. Minas Gerais will have increased steel production by around one million tonnes per year for application in high value-added products. The production of iron ore will be increased by 4.9 million tonnes per year, considering the 2.9 million tons from Serra Azul plus the addition of 2 million tonnes from Mina do Andrade, located in Bela Vista de Minas, which supplies the Monlevade Plant. The expansions will generate an equivalent increase in the contribution of taxes for municipalities, the State and the Union.
Monlevade plant
One more sintering plant, a new blast furnace will be implemented and the steelworks will be doubled. The investment also includes expansion of the logistical systems for receiving raw materials and shipping. This new production phase will feed the wire rod rolling train TL3, which will start operating in January 2022. It is, therefore, a new complete and integrated steel production line. The Monlevade Plant expansion project also includes investments to expand production at Mina do Andrade, a supplier of iron ore for the plant. The unit is located eleven kilometers from the plant, in the neighbouring city of Bela Vista de Minas . The mines will more than double production, from the current 1.5 million tonnes per year to 3.5 million tonnes per year. The unit already has installed capacity to meet the future demand of the Monlevade Plant; therefore, it will not need new industrial facilities. It will receive investments for the acquisition of mobile equipment already accounted for in the amount to be invested in the Monlevade Plant.
Blue Saw
In Serra Azul, a new pellet feed (high grade ore fine) production plant will be built, which, in addition to increasing production capacity, will extend the mine's useful life by 33 years, until 2056. The current ore beneficiation plant is designed to process only so-called friable itabirite, which is an ore that is easier to crush, grind and concentrate. This ore will run out in 2023, when the transition from the current plant to the new one will take place. This pellet feed production unit will be able to process the so-called compact itabirite, which is more resistant, has a lower iron content and requires special processing and concentration techniques. The final product will be iron ore classified as pellet feed, a noble product with high iron content.
Other investments in Brazil
In April of this year, ArcelorMittal announced the resumption of expansion at the Vega unit, in São Francisco do Sul. The project includes a third galvanizing line and a new continuous annealing line, the Cold Mill Complex. The contribution to the expansion is of the order of RL 1.95 billion, with completion of the work scheduled for the third quarter of 2023.
In September, operations were resumed at the Steel Mill at the Barra Mansa RJ unit, which required investments in the order of BRL 19 million for the maintenance and renovation of equipment.