Mexican steelmaker Altos Hornos de México (Ahmsa) partially resumed operations on Feb 19, after being forced to stop production at its steel units, coal, and iron ore mines due to a shortage of natural gas.
Ahmsa lost more than 20,000mt of crude steel production during the four days that halted operations, it said in a statement late on Feb 19, adding that while the company’s gas supply has resumed it remains at half its normal capacity.
Some steel mills, carmakers, and other industries reduced or halted operations last week after the Mexican government asked them to cut down on consumption of natural gas due to its shortage in the country. Extreme winter weather in the US affected the supply of natural gas to Mexico last week and also caused power outages in its northern region.
Ahmsa reported a net loss of MXN2.1bn ($102.7mn) in Q3 2020, compared to a net loss of MXN1.79bn in Q3 2019, while its net sales dropped by 50.7pc to MXN5.8bn from MXN11.8bn during the same quarter under comparison, according to its earnings reported by Mexico’s stock exchange (BMV) last year.
Mexican crude steel production decreased by 8.3pc to 16.8mn mt in 2020, from 18.3mn mt produced in 2019, according to the most recent figures released by the World Steel Association.