Ternium S.A.

Good morning. My name is Rob and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Turnium 4th Quarter 2022 Earnings Results Conference Call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speaker's remarks, there will be a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question during this time, simply press star followed by the number 1 on your telephone keypad. If you would like to withdraw your question, again press the star 1. Thank you. Sebastián Martí, you may begin your conference.

Good morning. Thank you for joining us today. My name is Sebastián Martí and I'm Chairman of Global Investor Relations and Compliance Senior Director. Chairman released yesterday its financial results for the fourth quarter and full year 2022 and announced new investment projects. This call is complementary to that presentation. Joining me today are Ternium's Chief Executive Officer, Maximo Vedoya, and the company's Chief Financial Officer, Pablo Brizzio, who will discuss Ternium's business environment and performance. At the conclusion of our prepared remarks, there will be a Q&A session. Before we begin, I would like to remind you that this conference call contains forward-looking information and that actual results may vary from those expressed or implied. Thank you Sebastián, good morning to all and thanks

Thank you very much for your interest in this conference call. Tarnium had a strong performance in 2022. EBITDA reached $3.4 billion, net income was $2.1 billion, and earnings per ADS were $9. On top of these very positive results, the company had significant cash generation, with free cash flow of $2.2 billion. which increased our net cash position to $2.6 billion. Considering these good results and Ternium's solid financial position, the company's board of directors proposed an annual dividend for 2022 of $2.70 per ADS, equivalent to $530 million. This represents an increase of 10 cents Paredes, compared to 2021's annual dividend. Another thing I would like to share today is that yesterday we approved several projects that are very significant to our company. First, we launched a project to build a new slab facility in the USMCA region. We talked about this plan several times in previous calls. and we are excited to be able to give you the details about this project today. I believe this initiative will be very positive for our company. It will include the construction of an electric furnace based steel shop with annual capacity of 2.6 million tons as well as a DRI module with annual capacity of 2.1 million tons. Together with this, we will also build a port facility for raw materials handling. We currently expect to commission these facilities in the first half of 2026 with a total capex of $2.2 billion. The exact location of the facilities will be disclosed in due course. After careful consideration, we choose to install a technology that we believe have several advantages against other alternatives. The steel shop will have only one large EAS instead of two smaller units. This lowers the capex of the project as well as its operating expenses. The facility will also have a vacuum degassing facility and a slab caster with two lines. All of this will enable us to produce the highest specifications still necessary for the most demanding applications like those of customers from the auto industry. In addition, this increased lab production capacity will complement and support our new state-of-the-art hot rolling mill which began operation in 2021 and the downstream project in Mexico that we announced in February of 2022. The implementation of the USMCA trade agreement and the recent trends of nearshoring manufacturing capacity in the steel value chain have made the USMCA region an attractive destination for continued investment. This new project will advance the integration of our industrial system and reinforce Ternium's position as a leading steel supplier in the region. This initiative will also support Our ongoing compliance with the USMCAs melt and pour requirements for the auto industry. Another significant aspect of this new project is related to the decarbonization of our operations. The technology we decide to use for the steel shop is the most modern and greener currently available. Also, the new direct reduction model will include carbon capture capabilities. as all of our DRI models do, and it will be ready to switch from natural gas to green hydrogen whenever this is feasible in the future. Wrapping up this announcement of this new project, we expect it to be very beneficial for Ternium, not only from a business aspect, but also from a sustainability of its operation in the years to come. and with sustainability in mind, I'm also very excited to announce that Permian will build a wind farm in Argentina from which it will source electricity. We expect to invest $160 million in this project, which will have a nominal power capacity of 72 MW and will begin operations in the second half of 2024. This will allow us to replace 65% of the electricity that our Argentine subsidy currently purchases from external providers. We have already secured access to the national grid to transport this power to our facilities in the country. This wind farm will be our first company-owned renewable energy project. and we plan to expand its capacity if we see opportunities for doing so in the future. We are thrilled with these announcements we are sharing with you today, as I believe this project are a proof of the commitment of Ternium has to make its operation more and more sustainable over time. As you know, Another top priority for Ternium is safety in our operations. In this aspect, as we close 2022, I'd like to report that we had a lost time injury frequency rate of 0.6 accidents per million hours worked in the year. This is the lowest rate in the history of the company. The safety of our people has always been a priority in our agenda, and we keep incorporating the best safety practice and make awareness of its importance to all levels. Let's turn now to the state of our main markets. We have positive expectations regarding turn-use performance in 2023. During the first half of the year, we expect margins to normalize as cost per ton should decrease and steel prices in the USMCA region are recovering. The second half of 2023 is a bit more difficult to forecast considering the ongoing interest rate tightening cycle, which introduces some uncertainty regarding its impact on the economy down the road. In Mexico, we anticipate a continuing increase in steel volumes during the first half of the year. Since the end of 2022, when steel prices in the region become recovering, we are seeing a restock in the commercial market. On the other hand, industrial market demand is slightly improving, and Ternium's most recent investment program is yielding new steel products that are allowing us to gain market share against imports.

In this positive situation,

We are increasing the utilization of our drone stream facilities in the country and capitalizing on opportunities to serve new customers. Tarnium is perfectly positioned to take advantage of this market environment as we are very advanced in the ramp up of our new hot stream mill and we are bringing back up capacity utilization in other lines which we had reduced last year to adjust to lower market demands. Another interesting dynamic under development in the Mexican market is an increase in the investment activity of the value chain linked to the near sharing of manufacturing capacity. Since our last conference call, a remarkable number of companies in the steel value chain has announced expansion of capacity or Greenfield Investments in the country, and the Nuevo León State, where our main facilities are located, is the number one destination for these investments. We are ready to serve these growing needs in the market. In addition, the different projects we are currently under development, such as a new steel shop and the project we launched last year to expand our downstream facility, will put us in an even better position to take advantage of this opportunity to grow our business. Turning now to Argentina, our customers in the industrial and construction sector are performing well and maintaining a good level of purchasing activity. The most active ones during 2022 were construction, the automotive industry, and the energy sector. The agribusiness also did very well in 2022 Although the extent drought in the country should affect activity in the sector in the year to come. We are expecting good levels of demand in Argentina during the first half of 2022, with the usual seasonality in the first quarter. But macroeconomic uncertainty is always present in this market, so this could adversely affect economic activity and still demand in the future. To finish my prepared remarks, I would like to emphasize our positive view regarding Ternium's performance in 2023. In addition, we are very excited with the growth project and the development. We believe this project will enable Ternium to accompany the growth of the USMCA region, supporting the nearshoring of manufacturing capacity, and contributing to the company's decarbonization and Import Substitution Strategy. With this, Pablo, please go ahead with the review of ternium results in the fourth quarter and fall 2022. Thank you.

Thanks, Max, and good morning to everyone. Let me start by describing ternium shipments. And to do that, let's begin on page three of the webcast presentation. Ternium's finished field shipment reached in 2022 the highest level on record, supported by our investment in the new hot strip mill in Mexico. In addition, Pernium has advanced its integration strategy as evidenced by the reduction of the volume of lab ship to third parties, which moved from 2.9 million tons in 2018 to 800,000 tons in 2022. A tested EBDA and net income were very strong in 2021, and in 2022 was the beginning of a transition to a more normal level of profitability. The decrease in EBDA during last year mainly reflected higher cost of sales due to increased price of purchased slabs and raw material linked to the disruption in the global steel and raw material market costs by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. This negative effect was partially upset by higher realized steel prices, mostly reflecting a higher value-saves mix due to integration of ternium slabs production in Brazil. Annual billion payment increased significantly in the last five years, from $1.20 in 2018 to $2.70 proposed for 2022, equivalent to $530 million, We started to pay interim dividends in 2021 with $0.80 per ADS in November of 2021 and $0.90 in November last year. Once the board's later proposal is approved, the company will pay the remainder of 2022 dividends in May, equivalent to $1.80 per ADS or $353 million. This is the annual dividend payment net of November interest, interim dividend. On the next page, you can see Terminus Cash Generation in the past five years. Cash flow operation was partially strong in 2021 and also in 2022, with significant shifts in working capital in those years, reflecting sharp fluctuations in steel prices and raw material costs. An inventory buildup in 2021 in connection with the ramp-up of the new mill in Mexico. CAPEX over the last three years has been relatively stable, at $500 to $600 million per year. This is about to change as a result of investment projects under development. Mainly the upstream project we announced yesterday and the downstream project we announced last year, which has a rescheduling in two of the four initiatives. the co-rolling mill and the galvanizing line which are now expected to start up at the end of 2025. The sum of these projects will take total capex for the company in 2023 to approximately $1.1 billion and will add a total of $2.9 billion to the company capex over the next four years with peak capex intensity in 2025. Coming now to free cash flows, as can be seen in the chart, it has been exceptionally strong in the last two years, at around $2.2 billion each. This is equivalent to $11 per ADS. The significant cash generation transformed Ternium's balance sheet, enabling us to continue with a high level of dividend payment, and will also help us fund the announced new capital expenditure program. Let's now review Ternium's results for the fourth quarter in the next stage. As we anticipated in the previous quarter's call, adjusted EVBA margin in the fourth quarter declined to a level below the company's usual range. This happened because there was a mismatch in the pace at which revenue per ton and cost per ton deflated. With lower price raw materials lagging, The decline in revenue per ton as raw material prices gradually flow through the company's inventory before impacting the cost of sales. We expect ternium's cost per ton to continue decreasing over the next couple of quarters, reflecting lower-priced raw materials purchased in the second half of last year. We believe this development should help ternium's margin to gradually normalize over the coming quarters. Net income was $59 million in the fourth quarter, reflecting the decreased level of adjusted VDA and also the negative impact of a $99 million write-down of Ternium's investment in Ternium Brazil. Turning now to page six, we can see a 9% increase in spill shipment in Mexico. We reached an all-time high of 1.9 million tons in the fourth quarter. Shipment in Mexico increased mostly driven by the factors as described in Maximo's initial remarks and should continue growing in the next few quarters. On the other hand, shipments in the other market region decreased 16% in the fourth quarter compared to the third and sales volume in the southern region remained unchanged. We expect shipments in the southern region to seasonally decrease in the first quarter of this year. Let's turn now to page seven. As anticipated, consolidated revenue per ton declined sequentially in the fourth quarter, as steel prices decreased in turning steel markets, and in Mexico, contract steel prices reset at lower levels. Although spot steel prices are improving in the USMCA region, we expect this positive trend to be upset in the first quarter of this year by the reset of contract prices at lower levels. So, we anticipate revenue per ton to stabilize after the decreases they showed during the second half of last year. In page eight, let's review the main drivers behind the decrease in net income in the fourth quarter. The sequential decrease in net income reflected the mentioned decrease in adjusted VDA and the $99 million write-down of the company investment in Ternium Brazil. These negative results were partially upset by the answers of the fourth quarter of two items that we already analyzed in the third quarter earnings recall. A $120 million in permit of termination in Bermuda, and a $95 million decrease in the fair value of the securities received as a dividend in cash from Terminal Magentino. To finalize the presentation, let's now review terminal cash generation on page nine. Cash flow operations in the fourth quarter was $1.1 billion. including a working capital release of $955 million. The change in working capital resulted from the impact of declining prices of steel, purchased slabs, and raw material. Free cash flow in the fourth quarter of last year was $873 million after capex of $159 million. This drove our net cash position to $2.5 billion at the end of December. With this, I am finalizing my presentation. Thank you very much for your time and attention. And now we are ready for your questions. So please, operator, let's start with the Q&A session.

At this time, I would like to remind everyone, in order to ask a question, press star, then the number one on your telephone keypad. Your first question comes from the line of K.O. Greener from BTG Pactual. Your line is open.

Hello. Good morning, everyone. Thank you. So my first question on the project, I guess the EAF mill was slightly smaller scale than you guys had been indicating in the past. I think it's slightly lower capex per ton, too. So I just want to understand what were the main drivers for that. And also, if you can provide any details on the estimated cost per ton for this plant, that would be helpful, too. Or if you can provide a number, just any color or Thank you for joining us. So I just wanted to understand the direction of revenue per ton here for the first quarter. And then on cost, I understand that the trend is still downwards, but maybe if you guys could provide any color on the magnitude for the first quarter, that would be helpful too. Thank you very much.

Okay, thank you, and good morning to you, Caio. I think the first part of your question regarding the investment is not that it's a smaller EAF. The EIF we are putting is probably the biggest EIF that is available in the market today. What we have said in the past that the alternative would probably be putting two EIFs for a total capacity of roughly 3 million tons. What we are doing today is putting only one of those EIFs, but much bigger of the two EIFs of 3 million tons. So we are changing a little bit the configuration, putting only one EIF gives you the 2.6 million tons, or roughly the 2.6 million tons. And that helps us with the other part of that question, that is the capex is lower, or it's a little bit smaller than what we thought would be if we put the other configuration. That's number one. Number two, The operating cost is smaller if you have only one EAS. That's also. And number three, but this is in the long run, so don't expect this very new, but it could allow us to grow the capacity fairly easy in the future, putting a second one. So I think it's very convenient for... for our operation to go through this technology than to do the different alternative that was putting a little bit more capacity but with two EIFs. So that, I think, is the answer for the first question. The second question about margins, Pablo, why don't you answer that?

Okay, perfect. Hi, Caio, how are you? So, as we have been expecting the fourth quarter, we have been seeing an squeeze of margin because everything that we have already discussed, which is the decreasing prices in an environment of also decreasing costs, but taking longer to be reflected in our numbers. Clearly, what we have shown in the fourth quarter, the VBA margin at around 9% is below the expected range or within the expected range that per year should have. So we are expecting to get back to this range in the coming years, specifically in the coming quarter. Clearly prices that are being increased in the region, I guess at some point Maximo will comment extensively on that, will not yet be fully reflected in our numbers in the coming quarter because the reset of prices of our contract, especially in Mexico. On the other hand, costs will continue to see some reduction, and we are expecting to see that coming into the first quarter results. So all in all, and to give you a more precise answer, and summarizing the whole thing I have been saying, We will start to recover and return to more normal levels in the first quarter of the year, not yet in the range that we are expecting to have that, but we should be approaching that level at the end of the second quarter or beginning of the third quarter.

I hope, Caio, with that we answered the two questions.

Yeah, just one point on the project still.

Can you guys provide any color on what you're expecting in terms of costs for the EAF plus DRI facilities?

The cost?

What are you guys expecting in terms of cost per ton for your slab production operations and for the announced projects? Not the total capex, but your expected cost per ton.

I mean, it's very deep. Yeah, now I understand the question, Kai. I'm sorry. It's very difficult to provide a number because, as you might expect, some part of that depends on the cost of our raw materials. To put some numbers, and I put the numbers that are today, SLAP market price are around $700, and the cost Operating cost of this project, if we take today's numbers, will be around $550.

That's what I can tell you about the cost.

That's helpful. Thank you, Maximo. Thank you, Pablo.

No, you're welcome, Cayo.

Your next question comes from the line of Tina Tanners from Wolf Research. Your line is open.

Hey, good morning, guys, and thanks for the great detail. I wanted to follow up on the last question and get a little more color on how you're thinking about volume. So in the last question, the answer you gave was about margins returning to more normal. When you talk about normal, I just wanted to reiterate, is that the historical guide of 15% to 20% target that you're talking about when you refer to normal, EBITDA in the steelmaking segment? that's the first question if you could just clarify that that would sounds like definitely in that range second half and then kind of approaching that in the first half does that mean first quarter would be more like fourth quarter or improving from the fourth quarter and then the second question like I said on volumes obviously with AMSA not operating fully there seems to be kind of a gap in availability in the Mexican market so is it possible to see a meaningful uptick in your volumes to fill that gap given the good demand that you described Any more color on where volumes could go to, given your availability, would be great.

Thanks a lot. Thank you, Tim. Good morning. Yeah, the first question, the answer is yes. When we refer to normalized margin, it's between 15% and 20%. In the first quarter, what we're expecting is not to be like the fourth quarter, a little bit more near the lower... and many more. We are not getting the range, the normalized range, but we'll be a little bit more closer to those numbers than the fourth quarter. Volumes in Mexico, yes, volumes in Mexico are going to increase in the two following quarters. Clearly, one aspect of that is AMSA. The second aspect that you can see is that we are gaining market share against imports. And so we are We are starting to work our facilities at much higher initiation rate, especially the old mill, the old, it's not old, it's renewed, but the Churubusco facility, which was the one that was working at a very low capacity, and so at least for the next few quarters, we see that facility working at much higher capacities. The exact number of the increase, we don't have it yet clear, but we are working very hard with our customers to see the final demand. I think that one thing that is also clear, Timna, is that the consumption of steel in Mexico, we are thinking that it's going to increase in the future. And we are seeing all the investments our customers and new customers are doing. But it is coming on the time, over time. Last year, apparent consumption decreased in Mexico. And next year, when we see the Canacero figures, it's going to increase but marginal. So the volumes we are gaining is against input and market share. And so... That's kind of what we are seeing in the market today. I hope with this I clarified a little bit your question.

No, that's really helpful. So it sounds like even if AMSA were to reopen, and I'm not sure I'm quite up to date on the telenovela down there and what's happening.

Me neither.

If we do see it return to operations, do you think that at least some of the volume improvement is sticky because of market share gains and against imports, it sounds like, as well? Yes.

Yeah, yeah, you see both trends. Remember, in Mexico, you have AMSA, you have now ArcelorMittal, of course, with the new host Remil, and you have us. And what we are seeing is that we are increasing market share against mainly imports, and of course, AMSA is producing less tons. That's also true. What we expect in the future... Probably not next year, but you are seeing that demand is going to increase for several years to come with this nearshoring, with these old industrial manufacturers that are coming. Remember that our capabilities also, before the Austrian meal, some of the products we couldn't be able to produce. So now, industrial customers are We are going through the painful, let's put it this way, painful certification process of a lot of industrial customers, which is, I mean, they have to do it. But this year and next year, all these certification process are mostly completed. So we are starting to gain all that volume against imports.

Okay, great. Thanks again for the color.

Yeah.

Your next question comes from the line of Jen Spice from Morgan Stanley. Your line is open.

Yes, hello. Thank you for taking my question. I just want to ask, where do you plan to divert the volumes of Turnium Brazil and to which markets? And also, I want to ask, of the volumes you currently have integrated from Turnium Brazil to your Mexican operations, what percentage goes to the auto industry approximately? Yeah, just to have some more color there.

Yes, Jen, thank you for your question. Very good question. Let me start with a broad answer. The capacity we have in Mexico and a little bit in Argentina, I will put it, because Argentina also have a spare capacity of, of course, three mil. We have capacity of roughly 7.5 million tons that need to So I'm taking out the Guerrero facility, the mini-meal facility. So if we are producing at full capacity, which we are not producing yet at full capacity, but if we produce the country meal in Pesquería at full capacity, the Churubusco meal at full capacity, and the San Nicolás meal in Argentina, probably we'll need between 7.5 and 8 million tons of slabs. Brazil is producing today around 4.7 million tons so we have a deficit that is bigger or it's kind in line with the new capacity we are bringing in so we don't have to divest anything from turning Brazil probably we will continue consuming most of the slabs in our own operations having said that There are customers, and a part of us that is to Seminas, that need slabs for the long term in Brazil. So we'll probably increase our selling to Seminas, and we continue buying in the market some slabs for ternium as a general. That's our view when this new capacity comes into line. Volume specific of the automotive industry from Brazil is increasing. I would say that 2023 will be around 1.2 million tons specific for Brazil. Remember, in Mexico we sell around today around 2 million tons to the automotive industry.

Okay, perfect. Very clear. Thank you so much. You're welcome.

Your next question comes from the line of Isabella Vasconcelos from Bradesco BBI. Your line is open.

Thank you. Good morning. Thanks for the opportunity. I have one question here on my end in terms of Mexican demand. You mentioned that there's restocking happening in the commercial market. So I just wanted to understand where do you think that stocks are currently at in the supply chain? Is it already above average or if we should continue to see more restocking happening in Mexico in the coming months?

Okay, thank you. Good morning, Isabel, and thank you very much. I think the restocking is just starting. To be honest, when you see the apparent consumption in Mexico that decreased 2% last year, although GDP in Mexico increases, you see that through the year, especially in the second half, there was a restocking or a profound restocking in Mexico. So I'm expecting that this restocking, and we see it in all the value change, there's not much stock in the value change in Mexico. So I think It's going to continue for a couple of months or at least a couple of quarters. And then, as I said, industrial demand will come on. There are some industries that are increasing. Automotive industry is one of them. We have huge problems in the automotive industry, in the consumption of the automotive industry in Mexico. because of the lack of components but we are seeing in January that most of the OEMs in Mexico are producing again without any stoppage because of lack of components and it seems that the supply chain in the automotive industry is already working so we are expecting more demand from them and I think that in the second half of the year or in the second quarter Demand for other industries are going to come back. So that's a view that we have from the Mexican market. I hope it helps, Isabella.

Yeah, that's very helpful. And just one quick follow-up on near-shoring. Have you already been seeing actual still demand for near-shoring projects, or do you think that's something to expect later on in 2023, 2024?

No, I mean, in all our numbers for 2022 and 2023, we are not seeing demand except the demand you have in the constructions of the facilities. That takes a lot of steel, of course, but we are not seeing that demand because that demand, that production is coming on board late 2023, the first one we saw last year, and it's going to come in 2024 and 2025. That's why I said in the beginning that Near Shoring is something that is happening that we are seeing because we are seeing the buildings and the factories being built. But this is coming in a couple of years when all the production facility is running.

That's clear. Thank you.

You're welcome.

Your next question comes from a line of Alfonso Salazar from Scotiabank. Your line is open.

Thank you and good morning everyone. The questions that I have, the first one is regarding the location of the new plant that you are building, the new EAS. I just want to know what are the considerations for the location that you need to have it keep in mind. Does it have to do with water availability, energy, clean energy availability, your carbon goals? because Pesqueria looks to me like a good fit, but I don't know if you can give some color on what is, you know, what are you considering for the location. The second question is just a clarification about Premium Brazil. So if I understood correctly, you will be with this new SLAS facility You will be basically neutral on your slab needs. Even if at the margin you would be buying small amounts for some plants or selling some for Yosemite and other end uses. Is this correct?

Yeah. Thank you, Alfonso. I think the second part you are correct. We are going to be almost hedge, I think. But yes, mainly yes. But as I said, we are probably going to sell to Jimenez. I think it's a very reasonable and a very logistic... From a logistic point of view, it makes a lot of sense. And so we are going to continue buying probably slabs in the market as ternium. But we are going to be almost hedged. To the location, yes, Pesqueria... It could be or is one of the possibilities, clearly. But as I said, we are discussing. And the exact location, to be honest, we are going to disclose it soon. I mean, there's still some things we are analyzing. I hope I tried to answer that question, Alfonso.

Yes, just to clarify, we know there were some problems with water scarcity in the region of Nuevo León, in the state of Nuevo León. Energy is not really a problem at this point, but it could be in the future, and clean energy availability is also a concern of many that invest in Mexico. So I just wanted to understand if those are kind of the considerations that you have. No.

Yes and no. I mean, to be honest, water for our pesquería plant is not a problem. As you know, all the, I mean, from a water standpoint of view, pesquería plant is the idea, today pesquería plant with increase in the downstream facilities and the electrical plant we had, all of that consumes water from The disposal facility that is close to Pesquería, so we are not consuming clean water and so it's very, very efficient from a water point of view and the plant is prepared to grow. So although it's a concern in the north of the country, the water part is not a concern for Pesquería at all because of the sustainability we thought the plant and we are consuming all I don't know how you say it in English, the black waters. Yeah, I think it's sewage waters. And so we don't have any problem with water. Energy, which is a big concern in Mexico, I think is not a concern in the north of the country. The north of the country has more energy supply than energy consumption. So it shouldn't be another problem. I think that our decision is based on discussing alternatives we have and to disclose the location pretty soon.

Okay, that sounds helpful. Thank you, Maximo.

And again, if you would like to ask a question, press star 1 on your telephone keypad. Your next question comes from a line of Alex Hacking from Citi. Your line is open.

Hi, good morning and thanks for the call. I just have a few follow-ups, I guess mostly on the project. So with the DRI, would Ternium be consuming all of that DRI at the new EAF facility, or would you be selling some of that to third parties? I answer that now, yes.

Okay. We are all consuming the DRI.

Okay. What technology is that going to be based on? Will it be the ILSA next technology that you're very familiar with?

Most likely, I mean, there are two technologies, MEDREX and HYL or Tenova. Clearly, we have HYL in all our plans, so probably it's not decided. But, of course, it's what we intend to do.

Okay, and then finally, are there any steel quality implications? From shifting from, you know, very high quality Brazilian slabs to slabs made in an EAF. In particular for the automotive supply chain, you know, exposed auto body sheet. Are you fully comfortable that you can, you know, replicate your current, you know, tolerances and quality?

Yes, the answer is yes. Of course, it's a different technology. But we have to go that road for several reasons. First, we have to be USMC, melted and pool compliant, and we are not going to make a blast furnace in Mexico or anywhere, to be honest. So we worked hard all last year to see the technology and to see exactly how this steel shop will be to produce the same quality that the Brazilian slab operation produces. The caster and the secondary steel shop will be probably the same as that we have in Brazil. So we are comfortable, although we are working very hard, that the quality will be the same.

Okay, thanks. And then just back on the raw material side, I assume that outside of the DRI, then you would also be using some prime scrap in the mix. Is that a correct assumption?

Yes. Probably the mix depends, of course, on the steel, the quality of the steel, and the facilities prepared to produce with more DRI or with less DRI, depending, again, on the steel quality. But roughly, on a general mix, It's going to be 65% DRI and 35% scrap.

Okay, perfect. Thank you for the clarification.

And there are no further questions at this time. I will turn the call back over to Turnium CEO, Maximo Vedoya, for some closing remarks.

Okay, thank you all very much for your interest in our call today, for your very good questions. And as usual, please contact us Thank you very much and goodbye.

This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.