Gerdau decides to hold iron ore export for 2015

BRASILIA (Scrap Monster): Andre Pires, the Chief Financial Officer of the company, confirmed that as the spot price of iron ore is continuing to be compressed, the iron ore export margin of the company is nearing and almost reached zero.

He also stated that, as the company has not yet increased its production capacity to the limit of 18 million tonnes per year, it is still entitled in a comfortable position to limit its steel production for satisfying its own needs for steel production.

He further added that, the capital expenditure of the company for the year 2014 was about 481 million dollars, and according to the  plan of the company it was decided on to invest the  amount in the expansion of the iron ore production, but later it was decided to spend on establishing the self sufficiency of  the ore. He claimed that the company a capex investment, which was still ongoing and is worth about 110 million dollars.

The decline in the price of iron ore had forced the company to revise its own plan to expand the production of the steel making raw material.  The  first plan the company aimed to put in was to increase  the production of iron ore to 24 million metric tonnes per year, by the year 2020, fro its production of 7 million tonnes of iron ore in the year of 2012.

By the year 2013, the production of iron ore in the company increased to 11.5 million metric tonnes, and the next plan of the company was to increase the production of iron ore  to 18 million tonnes by the year of 2016.  Before the year 2012, the company depended on the iron ore from third world countries in order to feed its steel industry.