ECOACERO, an ESTRELLA Group company, has placed an order with SMS group for a new rebar mill. It will be located nearby Santo Domingo, in Dominican Republic, for serving the growing local and regional construction industry.

As one of the largest construction services and products group in the country, ESTRELLA made a strategic movement to reinforce its vertical integration, as well as the ecosystem formed by its companies. With this diversification, a powerful portfolio is established to address the growing demand in the construction industry at the local market, Caribbean, and Central American levels.

The upcoming ECOACERO facility will introduce a versatile range of rebar to the market, tailored to meet the demands of different construction industry segments, manufactured with state-of-the-art technology from SMS, and adhering to rigorous international quality standards.

The complete project, conceptualized with a sustainability philosophy, consists of two phases, with the forthcoming integration of a steel production, involving a melt shop with a continuous casting machine, from the scrap processing.

SMS group's comprehensive scope encompasses the design of the entire rebar mill, along with the delivery of mechanical and electrical equipment.

The scope of delivery of the SMS includes a reheating furnace for billets, feeding a continuous single-strand rolling mill. Products are finished on a MEERdrive^® finishing block, an efficient and sophisticated machine that reduces CO₂ emissions and boots plant efficiency. Water boxes in the production process enable steel with improved mechanical properties through quenching and self-tempering of the bars, minimizing the use of expensive alloying elements in the melt shop. The entire rolling mill will be controlled by SMS automation, including level 1 and 2, connected to the SMS Mercury process optimization system.

The second phase involves a modern electric arc furnace (EAF), high electrical efficient and designed with advanced burner and oxygen injector technology to reduce CO₂ emissions and operating costs.

The scrap charging-based electric arc furnace will be equipped with the latest SMS technologies for safe and automatic operation aimed at reducing the carbon footprint. The entire melting-refining-casting process line is monitored by X-Pact^® Level 2 system, which ensures the perfect and smooth interface with the phase-1 rolling Mill.

This ESTRELLA investment in a new rebar mill and meltshop aligns with ECOACERO's strategy to strengthen its market position in Central America's growing real estate and construction industry, where rebar is a fundamental building material.

The plant commissioning is scheduled for the beginning of 2025, pointing to ECOACERO as the one of the largest and modern steel companies in the Caribbean and Central America.

SMS group is renowned worldwide for its future-oriented technologies and outstanding service for the metals industry. The company applies its 150 years of experience and its digital know-how to provide the industry continuously with innovative products and processes – even beyond its core business – and generates worldwide sales of around 3.1 billion euros. SMS is the right partner for challenging projects, and supports its customers throughout the lifecycle of their plants, enabling profitable and resource-efficient value creation chains. Paving the way for a carbon-neutral and sustainable metals industry is the company’s stated goal. As a global player with German roots, SMS takes responsibility for its 14,400 employees.