The Inter-American Investment Corporation (IIC) approved a loan of up to USD 30M to Acería del Ecuador (Adelca) for the construction, development and operation of a new steel production plant located in the San Francisco de Milagro canton in the Guayas province, some 40km from Guayaquil. The loan will also enable the company to finance the purchase of the main equipment and machinery for the project. The IIC loan will be partially guaranteed by SACE, Italy’s export finance agency.
The IIC also approved technical assistance to conduct an environmental assessment of the facilities to identify existing or potential environmental problems and to evaluate the risks and impact in the vicinity of Adelca’s current facilities and on the site of the proposed plant. This environmental assessment will also include recommendations to mitigate and control the possible environmental and social problems identified.
“With this loan, the IIC will be supporting the steel sector in Ecuador and increasing Ecuador’s steel production capacity by 400,000t per year, as well as adding a new line of wire rod products, value-added products that are currently imported to Ecuador. This will reduce dependence on imports to meet domestic steel demand and expand the range of products”, said Javier Hernández, the lead IIC investment officer in charge of the operation.
