“We think that by the end of this year, the big capex (announcements) are done,” said Pino Tese, president of SMS group’s North American unit.

However, Tese, who spoke during the opening day of Fastmarkets AMM's annual Steel Success Strategies conference, said that although major expansion announcements might be in the past, he believes that mill investments will continue as steelmakers shift focus. Going forward, he said the activity will be tied to modernization projects as steelmakers look to equip older plants with Industry 4.0 capabilities. 

Primetals Technologies vice president Thomas Pfatschbacher echoed that sentiment, saying that as mills move to produce higher-value products, they will look to upgrade existing facilities with new capabilities.

“So we see a market for technology packages,” he said.  

As for the projects that have already been announced, they’re largely to be completed over the next two years. And the net result  will have been  to lessen America’s dependence on imports, Tese told the audience.
 
“By 2025, we believe that with this additional capex, imports into the U.S. will decline from 25 million to less than 20 million tons,” he said.