Altos Hornos de México (Ahmsa) is working at 60pc of its capacity as steel product demand slowly improves in the country.
The company worked at 70pc of its capacity before the pandemic started, an Ahmsa spokesperson told Davis Index.
The Mexican steelmaker, which had shut down some of its steel facilities in recent months because of financial difficulties, has no plans to close more steel plants, he added.
In January, Ahmsa shut down its blast furnace No. 6 at Plant 1 because of precarious market conditions, and now it only uses blast furnace No. 5 in Plant 2 to produce steel, reducing costs in the process, said the spokesperson. Ahmsa produced 4.52mn mt of crude steel in 2018, but in 2019 production fell by 40pc.
Mexico’s crude steel production dropped by 12.1pc to 1.4mn mt in April from 1.6mn mt a year earlier, according to the latest figures released by the World Steel Association.
Mexico’s crude steel output could decline on an annual basis by 10-15pc this year to 16mn mt because of the pandemic’s effects.