Mexico’s biggest steelmaker, Altos Hornos de México (Ahmsa), has announced that only one blast furnace will feed the production at its Plant 1 and 2 in Monclova City in the northern state of Coahuila, Mexico.
The company announced plans to idle its Furnace 6 in Plant 1 and only use Furnace 5 in Plant 2 to produce steel due to low demand for steel.
The Mexican steelmaker produced 4.52mn mt of crude steel in 2018, but in 2019 production fell 40pc, a spokesperson at Ahmsa told Davis Index.
Additionally, the move is aimed at adjusting the steelmaker’s production in tandem with current demand, while reducing its expenses, the company said in a statement.
The steelmaker expects demand to rise as infrastructure projects increase on the back of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement and increased public spending on these projects. Ahmsa said it would reactivate Furnace 6 when demand resumes as these projects take off.