DOW JONES NEWSWIRES RIO DE JANEIRO -(Dow Jones)- Brazilian steelmaker Gerdau SA (GGBR4.BR) will invest $67 million to expand production and improve product quality at its Monroe specialty-steel works in Michigan, the company said Friday. Gerdau will install new steel reheating, rolling and ancillary equipment at Monroe to expand the plant's production capacity for long-rolled specialty-steel products including bars to more than 800,000 metric tons a year by the second half of 2013, the company said in a statement. The latest investment follows a previous investment in 2010, also of $67 million, which modernized and expanded operations at Monroe, Gerdau said. The investment forms part of a broader plan to expand specialty-steel capacity at Gerdau's works in the U.S., including at Fort Smith in Arkansas, Jackson in Michigan and St. Paul in Minnesota. The company is also carrying out market studies to define the site for a new specialty-steel production works in North America, it said. "The continuing investments at Monroe are a result of our confidence in the recovery and growth of the North American market, as well as our commitment to the local community," Gerdau Chief Executive Andre Gerdau Johannpeter said in the statement. -By Diana Kinch, Dow Jones Newswires; 55-21-2586-6086; diana.kinch@dowjones.com
