Usiminas Calls Off New Steel Plant Construction in Brazil

Nippon Steel announced on Monday Usiminas, Nippon Steel’s affiliate in Brazil, called off construction plan of a new steel plant with annual capacity at 5 million tonnes in Brazil. Usiminas focuses investment into existing iron works and iron ore mine business to improve competitive power effectively. Usiminas continues investment for rolling mill’s expansion for high grade steel products while decides first-phase expansion of its iron ore mine. Nippon Steel continues to support Usiminas’ strategy as a big shareholder to grow up Usiminas to the top steel maker in Americas.

Usiminas examines upstream capacity expansion in existing iron works, Ipatinga iron works and Cubatao iron works, as alternate for a new steel plant construction. The firm plans to raise the total rolling capacity by 2.8 million tonnes to 10.6 million tonnes per year by introduction of new hot rolling mill in Cubatao and enhancement of plate mill in Ipatinga iron works. Crude steel output capacity totals approximately 9 million tonnes per year. The firm also eyes raw steel output expansion since the supply is expected to shorten when rolling mills enter full operations.

Usiminas has already started operation of accelerated cooling machine for plate. No.2 line in galvanized sheet plant, Unigal, a joint company between Nippon Steel and Usiminas, is scheduled to start operation in January-March 2011. Usiminas builds up production system for high grade steel products toward 2012 on schedule. Usiminas also improves productivity and quality while advances recovery of byproducts gases for better energy efficiency.

As to iron ore mine business, Usiminas decided to invest R$ 550 million through the subsidiary, Mineracao Usiminas, to expand iron ore mine’s output capacity by 5 million tonnes to 12 million tonnes by the second half of 2012. The expansion is in line with the plan along which Sumitomo Corporation, Japanese major general trader, holds 30% interest in Mineracao Usiminas and increases iron ore output to 30 million tonnes per year in cooperation with Nippon Steel and Usiminas until 2015.