In order to satisfy the greater demand of industrial gases needed for the plain operation of the new facilities included in the Fénix Project, Altos Hornos de México signed an investment agreement with Air Liquide México to build a new plant in Monclova in Coahuila.

Air Liquide Mexico will invest in excess of USD 100 million to construct and operate a new unit to produce industrial gases near the AHMSA steel plants in Monclova.

The plant will be capable of producing 1,700 tonnes per day of oxygen, besides nitrogen and argon providing increased capacity for AHMSA’s current and future operations, as well as providing additional gases for the surrounding industrial merchant market.

The new plant will supply the larger volumes of industrial gases required by the new industrial facilities comprised in the Fénix Project that has entered in its final steps.

The objective of the Fénix Project is to maximize AHMSA’s production capacity and generate new steel products. The project includes mainly a new blast furnace designed by AHMSA technicians, an electric arc furnace, a continuous casting and a second line of plate.

Mr Luis Zamudio CEO of AHMSA said that "The new plant guarantees the supply of industrial gases for the Company and gives a new perspective to the whole industrial chain formed by the steel plants and the coal and iron ore mines."