Overview
- The federal government signed the Acuerdo para el Fomento de la Industria Siderúrgica Mexicana with 19 public entities and industry groups to prefer Mexican-made steel in government projects and to lock in supply and pricing commitments.
- Agencies must coordinate purchasing, schedule deliveries, and ensure competitive prices for builders, with 2026 federal works expected to need about 200,000 tonnes of rebar and structural steel.
- Mexico currently produces about 14 million tonnes of steel against roughly 28 million consumed, and industry leaders say local mills could supply up to 97% of needs aside from a small slice of specialty grades.
- Steelmakers report $8–8.5 billion in active investments to expand capacity, and the agreement aims to safeguard about 90,000 direct jobs after plants ran near 55% of capacity last year.
- The push answers rising Chinese imports and the U.S. decision to raise Section 232 tariffs to 50%, which the industry says has cut Mexican steel sales to the United States by about half.