Gerdau announced a US$193.2mn investment to build a steel mill in Argentina. The plant will be located in Santa Fe province's Pérez city, with a 650,000t/y production capacity. Operations are expected to start in 2016, the company said.

"Argentina is a strategic market and the construction of the new plant strengthens Gerdau's position in the country," said CEO Gerdau Johannpeter. "This investment marks the beginning of our domestic steel production and allows for import substitution."

Gerdau has a lamination plant in Pérez with a current installed capacity of 260,000t/y of steel products, mostly sold to Argentina's construction and metal-mechanic industries.