ArcelorMittal Monlevade steel plant

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ArcelorMittal Monlevade steel plant (ArcelorMittal Aços Longos (Portuguese), Companhia Siderúrgica Belgo-Mineira (Portuguese, predecessor)), also known as João Monlevade steel plant, Belgo steel plant (predecessor), is a blast furnace-basic oxygen furnace (BF-BOF) steel plant operating in João Monlevade, Minas Gerais, Brazil.

Location

The map below shows the exact location of the plant in João Monlevade, Minas Gerais, Brazil:

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• Location: Av. Getúlio Vargas, 100, Santa Bárbara, João Monlevade, Minas Gerais, 35930-150, Brazil
• Coordinates (WGS 84): -19.832129, -43.130164 (exact)

Background

The João Monlevade steel plant was originally a project of the Companhia Siderúrgica Belgo-Mineira (commonly known as Belgo), a steel company that arose from the acquisition of Companhia Siderúrgica Mineira by the Belgian-Luxembourg group ARBED (Aciéries Réunies de Burbach-Eich-Dudelange) in 1921.

In the mid-1930s, Belgo began constructing a modern steel plant in the city of João Monlevade, in the mineral-rich state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. The Monlevade plant began operating in 1937, and over the next decade (prior to the 1946 opening of the much larger Presidente Vargas Steelworks in Volta Redonda) produced nearly half of Brazil's steel.

In the 1950s and 60s, the Monlevade plant modernized and expanded its output, adopting the recently invented Linz–Donawitz process of basic oxygen steelmaking and installing a Morgan finishing mill for the production of wire rod. Over the next few decades, Belgo continued to modernize and grow, strengthening its partnership with the Bekaert Group (an international leader in the manufacture of steel wires), acquiring the steel companies Cofavi and Dedini, and leasing the Mendes Júnior steel plant in Juiz de Fora, Brazil.

In 2000, Belgo replaced the Monlevade plant's five charcoal-fired blast furnaces with a single large-capacity, coke-fueled furnace, allowing the plant to increase its production of pig iron by 30%.

In 2002, Belgo became part of the Arcelor group following ARBED's merger with the French company Usinor and Spanish steelmaker Aceralia. A new merger between Arcelor and the Indian company Mittal resulted in the creation of global steel giant ArcelorMittal in 2006, with the Belgo plant changing its name to ArcelorMittal Monlevade.

Today the ArcelorMittal Monlevade plant operates as part of ArcelorMittal Brasil's Aços Longos (long steel) division, together with the ArcelorMittal Juiz de Fora steel plant and the ArcelorMittal Piracicaba steel plant. The company is located near the so-called Vale do Aço (Steel Valley), a metropolitan region comprising the municipalities of Coronel Fabriciano, Ipatinga (home to the Usiminas Ipatinga steel plant) and Timóteo (home to the Aperam Timóteo steel plant).

Expansion plans

In 2017, Brazil's financial crisis prompted a drop in the demand for steel, forcing ArcelorMittal to postpone a proposed project to expand the plant's capacity. In late 2021, ArcelorMittal revived the expansion project, announcing that it would invest R$4.3 billion in building a new 2.3 million mtpa sinter plant, a 1.2 mtpa blast furnace expansion, and a 1.2 mtpa melt shop at the Monlevade plant. The proposed expansion was expected to nearly double the plant's annual crude steel capacity from 1.2 million tpa (tonnes per annum) to 2.2 million tpa by 2024.

In July 2023, ArcelorMittal announced that startup of the new sinter plant, blast furnace and melt shop would be delayed until the second half of 2026.

Plant Details

Table 1: General Plant Details

Phase	Plant status	Construction date	Start date	Workforce size
Main plant	Operating	–	1937	780
Expansion	Construction	2021	2026	650
Expansion	Construction	2021	2026	650

Table 2: Ownership and Parent Company Information

Phase	Parent company	Parent company PermID	Parent company GEM ID	Owner	Owner company PermID	Owner company GEM ID
Main plant	ArcelorMittal SA [97.1%]; other [2.9%]	5000030092 [97.1%]; unknown [2.9%]	E100001000348 [4.9%]; E100000001753 [2.9%]	Arcelormittal Brasil SA	4295859712	E100001000493

Table 3: Process and Products

Phase	Steel product category	Steel products	Steel sector end users	ISO 14001	Main production equipment	Detailed production equipment
Main plant	finished rolled	wire rod, steel cord, steel wool	automotive	2023	BF, BOF	sinter plant; 2 BOF (1957, 1985)
Expansion	finished rolled	wire rod, steel cord, steel wool	automotive	–	BF, EAF	new 2.3 million mtpa sinter plant; new 1.2 mtpa melt shop
Expansion	finished rolled	wire rod, steel cord, steel wool	automotive	–	BF, EAF	new 2.3 million mtpa sinter plant; new 1.2 mtpa melt shop

Table 4: Crude Steel Production Capacities (thousand tonnes per annum)

*Please see our Frequently Asked Questions page for an explanation of the different capacity operating statuses.

Phase	Capacity operating status*	Basic oxygen furnace steelmaking capacity	Electric arc furnace steelmaking capacity	Nominal crude steel capacity (total)
Main plant	operating	1200 TTPA	–	1200 TTPA
Expansion	construction	–	1000 TTPA	1000 TTPA
Expansion	announced	–	–	–

Table 5: Crude Iron Production Capacities (thousand tonnes per annum)

*Please see our Frequently Asked Questions page for an explanation of the different capacity operating statuses.

Phase	Capacity operating status*	Blast furnace capacity	Nominal iron capacity (total)
Main plant	operating	1040 TTPA	1040 TTPA
Expansion	construction	–	–
Expansion	announced	1200 TTPA	1200 TTPA

Table 6: Upstream Products Production Capacities (thousand tonnes per annum)

Phase	Sinter
Main plant	1827 TTPA
Expansion	2250 TTPA
Expansion	2250 TTPA

Table 7: Actual Crude Steel Production by Year (thousand tonnes per annum)

Year	BOF Production	Total (all routes)
2020	1200 TTPA	1200 TTPA
2021	1200 TTPA	1200 TTPA
2022	1153 TTPA	1153 TTPA

Table 8: Actual Crude Iron Production by Year (thousand tonnes per annum)

Year	BF Production	Total (all routes)
2020	1015 TTPA	1015 TTPA
2021	1036 TTPA	1036 TTPA
2022	1067 TTPA	1067 TTPA

Blast Furnace Details

Table 9: Blast Furnace Details

Unit name	Status	Announced date	Construction date	Start date	Furnace manufacturer and model	Current size	Current capacity (ttpa)	Decarbonization technology	Most recent relining
A	operating	unknown	unknown	1999-12	–	1357 m³	1040	unknown	2017-08
B	announced	2010-08	2021	2026-12	Paul Wurth Paul Wurth Modern Blast Furnace Design	1524 m³	1200	unknown	unknown

Articles and Resources

Additional data

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Resources

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• Wikipedia