Special bar quality (SBQ) producer Republic Steel is a subsidiary of Mexico’s Grupo Simec and is the only producer of leaded steel in North America.
 
“We’re facing an extremely challenging SBQ market in the U.S., with competitive market pricing and decreased demand,” Jaime Vigil, a Republic Steel board member and executive advisor, said in a prepared statement. “At the same time, we’ve had to deal with increasing input costs on all raw materials, consumables, and labor, all as a result of the inflationary environment in the U.S. over the past year.”
 
The (Canton, Ohio) Repository said Grupo Simec stated that U.S. customers will be “served without interruption by its steel mill in Tlaxcala, Mexico.”
 
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