ArcelorMittal's $900 million Brazil expansion plan trudges along as imports weigh on economics

By Kylie Madry

MEXICO CITY, Nov 11 (Reuters) - ArcelorMittal's proposed $900 million expansion in Brazil is taking longer than planned, the company's top executive in the country said in an interview, as the steelmaker studies a new process for the mill and with imports from Asia weighing on business.

Jorge Oliveira, head of ArcelorMittal in Brazil, said late on Tuesday that the firm is still evaluating a 5-billion-real ($894 million) investment to add a 1.5 million-metric-ton-a-year hot-rolled coil line at Pecem, in Ceara state, and no longer has a firm timetable for finishing the study, though a decision could still come by year-end.

"The study is taking longer than we imagined," he said.

Last week, ArcelorMittal said economics behind the project — which would install a hot-strip mill to turn semi-finished slab into higher-value hot-rolled coil — would be disclosed in February.

The potential expansion comes as cheaper imports, largely from Asian countries, have increasingly gained market share in Brazil. In September, Oliveira said imports would need to fall below 12% of market share for the Pecem project to make sense.

He told Reuters the market share was still hovering closer to 18%, still well above the roughly 10% pre-pandemic norm. He attributed the cheaper prices abroad as being artificially depressed.

"Nobody can compete with dumping," he said.

Brazil has extended steel import controls through the 2026/27 cycle, with a 25% tariff on volumes above quota for covered products. Producers including ArcelorMittal have argued the measures helped slow the rise in imports but are still pressing for broader tariffs and faster anti-dumping investigations.

Across the West, countries have rolled out tougher trade defenses on steel, leaving less-protected markets more exposed, Oliveira said. ArcelorMittal already rerouted product to Europe after the US racheted up steel tariffs, though the EU has also now tightened its own import regime.

Through a project such as Pecem, ArcelorMittal could convert more slab into higher-value steel in Brazil, rather than depend as heavily on overseas markets that are becoming harder to access.

($1 = 5.5926 reais)

(Reporting by Kylie Madry; Editing by Christopher Cushing)