Mexican steelmaker Grupo
DeAcero’s CEO, Raúl Gutiérrez Muguerza, described as “great news” the agreement
announced last week with the United States to impose tariffs on steel and
aluminum shipped from Mexico but melted or poured in other countries.
“The joint statement is great news for the Mexican steel
industry because it indicates the greater integration of the North American
market,” Gutiérrez told a press conference in Mexico City.
Last week, the US imposed a 25% tariff on steel not melted or
poured in Mexico or Canada.
Gutiérrez said in the case of steel there are a large volumes of
imports from many countries that end up harming competitiveness, and that, by
stopping products that may be dumped, Mexican companies can use their profits
to grow more.
“We have very high growth and growth potential because about 35%
of Mexico's total consumption is still imported. Simply with import
substitution it is a great advance that can occur in the growth of all
companies,” he added.
In the specific case of DeAcero, Gutiérrez said currently the
company's utilization factor is around 70% and it has room to increase to
85-90%.
New
steel mill
The DeAcero CEO told BNamericas that the plan is still to start
production at its new US$1 billion steelworks for large profiles and beams at
the end of 2026.
“We're on the right track, we’re on time, the machinery is being
manufactured, the construction is beginning to be done, the earthworks are
already being done, some foundations are already being done,” said Gutiérrez.
He said construction of the mill, in Ramos Arizpe in Coahuila state, will
generate about 2,000 jobs and about 700 when it is operating, in addition to
indirect ones.
“We're investing in everything that is larger profiles and beams
because that gives us the opportunity to be the benchmark in construction steel
in Mexico,” he added.
The company is simultaneously investing in its industrial
intelligence policy, which aims, among other objectives, to increase production
capacity from the current 3.7Mt to almost 5Mt of finished products.
“What we’re trying to do is see how we can generate more value,
and in order to generate more value we need to be more intelligent industrially
speaking,” said Gutiérrez, who is a former head of steel industry chamber
Canacero.
“We
do engineering to provide solutions to the building or infrastructure or
construction industry in general, greater agility and greater value so that
time is saved, waste is avoided, theft is avoided, in such a way that with that
intelligence we can generate more value for our clients and for us.”