Miguel Alvarez of OmniSource

While working toward an MBA at Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey in Mexico, Miguel Alvarez wrote an essay about his goal to become president of a U.S. company by age 40.

“I didn’t know specifically if it was going to be in the steel industry or recycling; I just wanted to be a leader, and I wanted to work for an American company,” he says.

A combination of luck and a strong work ethic helped Alvarez attain that goal earlier than anticipated.

He began his career in the steel industry in Mexico and had the opportunity to move to the U.S. in 2000 to become vice president of finance for Steelscape, headquartered in Kalama, Washington. By 2004, Alvarez was promoted to president. He has since held several executive positions in the steel and recycling industries, including at North Star BlueScope Steel, Steel Dynamics Inc. (SDI) and OmniSource.

“I enjoy leadership positions and ... getting involved with employees, customers [and] suppliers, building relationships [and] making a difference.”

Alvarez says joining SDI in 2019 was the best move he has made. “[SDI CEO Mark Millett] called me and talked to me about Steel Dynamics expanding into the Southwest U.S. and in Mexico because, at that time, they were planning to build what is now our newest mill in Sinton, Texas. I just felt so excited about the opportunity to be part of something that big, and Steel Dynamics is a company that I’d admired for a long time for its culture and entrepreneurial spirit,” he says. “It was a tough move for me because I had been working for BlueScope for a long time, but I just couldn’t pass on the opportunity.”

Q: What got you into the steel and recycling industry?

A: I was born and raised in Monterrey, Mexico, which is an industrial city that in my younger years was the center of steel and glass production in Mexico. So, when I finished college, most of the opportunities I had there were in those two industries.

I got several job offers after college, but I took an opportunity at a company that had galvanizing and paint lines. Their management team was really good to me; they gave me lots of opportunities. I had different jobs in sales and finance, and that was when I started to learn about the steel industry—that’s when I fell in love with it.

Q: What brought you to the U.S. 23 years ago?

A: Before moving to the U.S., I was working for ... Incert, which is now part of Ternium in Mexico. They were looking for opportunities to grow in the U.S., so I got involved in a due diligence process to acquire a company in the state of Washington … called Steelscape. At that time, they were owned by BHP in Australia. I never thought I was going to end up moving to the U.S. when I was doing due diligence ... but after we acquired the company, they asked me to stay at Steelscape as [chief financial officer]. That was supposed to be just two to three years, but after a couple years, my wife and I fell in love with the U.S. [and] we decided to stay here.

Q: What projects excite you most at Steel Dynamics and OmniSource?

A: We are adopting new technologies that are going to help us reduce waste and increase the recovery of material at our scrap yards, so that’s something very, very exciting to me. We’re increasing our capabilities to produce higher-quality scrap for our mills. These are different grades of scrap that are going to give us tremendous benefits. We’ve invested not only time but also money in developing better scrap grades for the mills.

And we’re working really hard, expanding our presence—we’re growing practically in all areas where we have a presence. But, lately, we’ve been growing a lot in the Southwest U.S. and in Mexico because we need to support our newest mill in Sinton, and they are ramping up fast.

Steel Dynamics [also] is building a new aluminum mill in Columbus, Mississippi. We plan to start that facility in 2025.

Q: How have you seen the steel and recycling industries evolve?

A: There have been tremendous changes. … One thing that is extremely important and will continue to happen in the coming years is our focus on sustainability. More companies, and especially Steel Dynamics and Omni, are extremely focused on offering sustainability solutions to industries and customers. That’s something I believe has changed for the better.