Mexican ferroalloys producer Minera Autlan has resumed operations at its Gomez Palacio silicomanganese plant, the company said Tuesday.
Operations were suspended in January due to difficult conditions in the steel market, the company said, particularly as a result of what it argues were unfair practices perpetrated in the Mexican market by some rival Asian ferroalloy suppliers.
The plant, located in the northwestern state of Durango, can produce up to 33,000 mt/year of silicomanganese, 20% of the company's total production capacity for the ferroalloy.
Minera Autlan has six plants in Mexico, located in the states of Durango, Hidalgo and Puebla.
"Thanks to the imposition of preliminary measures on Indian silicomanganese producers in March," the company has decided to reopen the Gomez Palacio plant, particularly since demand has "shown some signs of recovery in the last months."
At the end of March, Mexico's economy ministry imposed a provisional countervailing duty of 43.17% on imports of ferro silicomanganese originating in India. The product under investigation is identified under HS code 7202.3001.
Minera Autlan is the sole ferroalloy producer in Mexico.
