Industrias CH to invest US$280mn in new projects

Mexican steelmaker Industrias CH (ICH) plans to invest a total of US$280mn in new projects, either in the form of two new plants or acquisitions, company executive Sergio Vigil was quoted as saying in El Norte. Projects under consideration include a 500,000t/y steel plant in Matamoros in northern Mexico's Tamaulipas state, which would principally supply the company's existing laminated products plant in that city. Meanwhile, in Monclova, also in northern Mexico, the company plans to build another production line for steel pipes of up to 48-inch diameter. Construction of the two facilities would begin in 2006. Financing would be in-house. Should an acquisition opportunity arise meantime, the construction projects would be postponed, but not canceled. The company currently owns eight plants throughout Mexico, with a combined capacity of 1.3Mt/y of raw steel, 1.6Mt/y of rolled products and 1.9Mt/y of total products. It also owns steelmaker Grupo Simec, which has plants in Cholula, Apizaco, Guadalajara and Mexicali. In January ICH announced US$79mn worth of investments for Grupo Simec in four plants, which would allow Simec to expand raw steel production 13% to 150,000t/y. These investments are separate to the US$280mn investments mentioned above.