Brazilian steel conglomerate Grupo Aço Cearense concluded an engineering assessment to build a steel plant in the city of Marabá in Pará state, a project it is carrying out in partnership with mining company Vale. 

“Now the engineering project has been completed, we're assessing the financial structure, calculating the capex and opex to advance with that. The investment in the project will be between US$300mn and US$400mn,” group VP Ian Corrêa told BNamericas.  

The plant will be built by Grupo Aço Cearense subsidiary Siderúrgica Norte Brasil (Sinobras).

“I assume that between February and March we will have a definition of the amount to be invested and the strategies to arrange financing for it. The calculation of capex and opex for the project has been very delicate, mainly because in recent years we have seen large variations in prices of inputs, of service providers and equipment,” said Corrêa. 

Vale will provide the melt shop at the new Sinobras plant with pig iron produced by Vale subsidiary Tecnored in Marabá, allowing the production of green steel. According to the executive, the financing will be structured by Sinobras, with Vale acting only as guarantor.

Engineering consultancy Hatch supported Sinobras in preparing the engineering assessment. 

The steel mill will have production capacity of 500,000t/y of billets and is expected to begin operating in 2027. 

Meanwhile, Grupo Aço Cearense is completing a series of investments totalling around 1bn reais (US$205mn) in works to expand long steel production capacity to 850,000t/y from 350,000t/y with a new rolling mill.  

Corrêa underscored that the expansion is taking place at a challenging time for steelmakers, as domestic demand remains low.