Peruvian steelmaker Aceros Arequipa will commence production at its new Pisco mill in Q2 2021 to serve demand from the Latin American construction market.
The new mill uses an electric-arc furnace (EAF) capable of producing 1.25mn mt of steel per year. It is expected to begin operations between April and May this year, Tulio Silgado, general manager at Aceros Arequipa, said told Peruvian Securities Exchange Commission (SMV) on Jan 11. The company also operates another mill in Pisco that has a production capacity of 850,000mt of billet per year.
The new EAF mill is expected to reach full capacity in November 2021 and export products to Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Bolivia and Chile. The steelmaker has invested around $207mn to build the EAF mill. It will require less shredded scrap and be able to use more heavy-melting steel scrap to produce its new steel products.
The company’s steel sales increased by 10.8pc to PEN907mn ($251.5mn) in Q3 2020, from PEN819mn in the same period of 2019. During the same period, Aceros posted a net profit of PEN83.1mn, compared with a net profit of PEN49mn in Q3 2019.
Peru’s crude steel output fell by 31.8pc to 70,000mt in November, from 103,000mt in the November 2019.