OREANDA-NEWS. With the start of steel production scheduled for the first quarter of 2015, the melt shop of Gerdau's new steel mill in Mexico is in its final testing period. The forecast is for the rolling area to start up operations in the second quarter, which is currently in the final stages of assembly. The unit is managed by the Gerdau-Corsa joint venture and will have an annual installed capacity of 1 million metric tons of steel and 700,000 metric tons of rolled products. The plant will cater to the construction sector (metal construction, foundations, and retaining walls) as well as to the industry (industrial building projects and manufacturing) in Mexico and the other countries part of NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement.