Zinc Nacional to expand production capacity in Mexico, US

Zinc Nacional, a global provider of high-quality zinc compounds that is headquartered in Monterrey, Mexico, has announced plans to expand its production capacity. The company plans to build a 7,000-ton-per-year French process zinc oxide facility in Mexico, followed by an additional 10,000-ton-per-year facility in the United States.

Eduardo Alverde, chief executive officer of Zinc Nacional, says the expansion process will be set up in two phases. He says the company will first expand its French process annual capacity by 7,000 tons in its Monterrey facility, which will begin operations in the third quarter of 2022.

“This expansion will complement our growth in American process zinc oxide capacity and will enable us to serve the North American market with up to 15,000 tons per year of custom-made zinc oxide of different grades,” he says. “These will target the tire, rubber, lubricant and chemical industries, as well as other industries the company currently serves.”

Alverde says the second phase of the expansion will be ready by the third quarter of 2023, with an additional capacity of 10,000 tons per year of French process and custom-made zinc oxides at a facility in the U.S.

According to a news release from Zinc Nacional, the new capacity in the U.S. will be fed with additional recycled zinc units from Zinc Nacional’s electric arc furnace (EAF) dust recycling facility in Logansport, Indiana, that begins operations next month.

Zinc Nacional says it is considering U.S. sites in Millport, Alabama, and Logansport, Indiana. The company currently has waelz oxide production operations in both of those areas. “We are carefully studying the location of this operation according to our customers’ needs,” says Antonio Carrandi, Zinc Nacional’s sales vice president. “We are confident the timing is right for such an investment since the markets have shown quick recoveries, and we are very optimistic of medium and long-term growth in the industries we serve.”