July 20, 2008

CSN unveils USD 10 billion CAPEX plan

Brazilian steelmaker CSN has unveiled investments of USD 10 billion over the next 5 years to expand its production capacity to 16.7 million tonnes per annum in 2014.

Mr Otavio Lazcano executive financial director of CSN said that the construction pipeline includes 2 Brownfield projects at its main plant at Volta Redonda, plus two new mills, one at its Itaguaí port in Rio de Janeiro and one at Congonhas in Minas Gerais state. He added that one of the Volta Redonda projects is due to add production capacity of 600,000 tonnes per annum of long steel. CSN is investing USD 113 million and the plant should be operational by 2009.

The other Brownfield is the restoration of an existing facility shut down in 1991. It purchased new blast furnaces for the project and is set to produce 1.5 million tonnes per annum of pig iron. For this project the feasibility study has been concluded and the mill is slated to be up and running by 2009.

Mr Lazcano said that as for the 2 Greenfield projects, CSN is building a 10,000 square meter facility in Itaguaí that will produce 4.5 million tonnes per annum in slabs, long steel, heavy plates and steel sheets near the port on Sepetiba bay. Meanwhile the Congonhas plant is set to churn out 4.5 million tonnes per annum of long steel and steel plates. Between them the Greenfield projects have a price tag of USD 6 billion and are expected to be ready by 2013.