Mexico’s steelmaker Altos Hornos de México (Ahmsa) has lost 10,000mt of steel production between Monday and Tuesday due to a halt in the supply of natural gas.
The company’s iron ore and coal mines and the steel plants have halted production since Feb 15 due to the issue, a source told Davis Index, without disclosing further details. Extreme weather in the US affected the supply of natural gas to Mexico, which also led to power outages in northern states of the latter.
Ahmsa reported a net loss of MXN2.1bn ($102.7mn) in Q3 2020, compared to a net loss of MXN1.79bn in Q3 2019, and its net sales dropped by 50.7pc to MXN5.8bn in Q3 2020, down from MXN11.8bn in Q3 2019.
Mexican crude steel production decreased by 8.3pc to 16.8mn mt in 2020, from 18.3mn mt produced in 2019, according to data from the World Steel Association.
($1=MXN20.44)