ArcelorMittal Approves Up to R$5 Billion Expansion of Brazilian Steel Plant

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On August 28, ArcelorMittal gave final approval for a new round of expansion investment at its Tubarão plant in Serra, Espírito Santo State, Brazil, with an estimated investment of R$4 billion to R$5 billion. The project will include the construction of a new cold rolling mill and a continuous coating line, with construction scheduled to begin in 2026 and operations expected to commence in the first half of 2030.

The continuous coating line is designed with an annual production capacity of 560,000 tons, using existing hot-rolled coils from the Tubarão plant as feedstock to produce cold-rolled and metal-coated steel products for sectors such as automotive, construction, and home appliances. The project construction period is expected to last approximately three and a half years, with a peak workforce of around 3,000 workers during construction and approximately 450 operational staff after commissioning.

The project had previously entered ArcelorMittal's internal approval process. In February 2025, the company announced an investment plan of R$3.8 billion to R$4 billion, at which time the technical feasibility study for the Tubarão cold rolling and continuous coating project had been completed, followed by the group's internal review stage, with an estimated peak construction workforce of approximately 2,500 workers. Following this final approval, the investment estimate has been raised to R$4 billion to R$5 billion, and the peak construction workforce estimate has also been adjusted to approximately 3,000 workers.

The Tubarão plant currently primarily produces slabs and hot-rolled coils. With the addition of the new cold rolling and continuous coating processes, existing hot-rolled coils can be further processed on-site into cold-rolled and metal-coated steel products, covering downstream applications such as automotive, home appliances, and construction, thereby creating a direct linkage between this investment and the plant's existing hot rolling production system.