Ternium, Nippon Steel sign MOU for 400,000t/y sheet plant near Monterrey

Luxembourg-based Ternium (NYSE: TX) and Japan's Nippon Steel have signed a non-binding MOU aimed at forming a JV in Mexico for the manufacture and sale of hot-dip galvanized and galvannealed steel sheets for the local automobile market, Ternium reported in a release. The JV, which would require an investment of approximately US$350mn over two and a half years, would build a hot-dip galvanizing plant with capacity of some 400,000t/y near Nuevo León state capital Monterrey, the release said. The companies now intend to negotiate a binding JV agreement, which would be subject to final documentation, due diligence, feasibility studies, agreement on other issues, and regulatory and corporate approvals. Ternium - a subsidiary of Italian-Argentine group Techint - owns Grupo Imsa and Hylsamex in Mexico.