Aceros Arequipa’s new steel plant construction is delayed because of COVID-19 related shutdowns earlier in the year. The company now plans to complete the construction by Q2 2021.
The new steel plant called Nueva Acería, which was expected to be concluded in 2020 will cost $208mn and will have a capacity of up to 1.25mn t (1.13mn mt) of crude steel per year, according to the Peruvian steelmaker.
The firm, which announced its H1 earnings on Tuesday said that it will postpone all investments until further notice and will seek to reduce its inventories by December 2020. The company did not disclose the planned stock reduction volumes.
Aceros’s steel sales fell by 70.5pc to PEN230.3mn ($65.5mn) in Q2 2020, from PEN780.4mn in the same period last year, due to production loss because of COVID-19 related shutdowns from March to May, the steelmaker noted.
The company posted a net loss of PEN38.6mn in Q2 2020, compared with a net profit of PEN38.8mn in Q2 2019, while its EBITDA fell by 116.3pc to PEN14.4mn in Q2 2020, from PEN88.3mn in the same quarter last year.
($1= PEN3.51)