An image of the Guerrero and Universidad plants in Monterrey, Mexico.
Ternium has redesigned and strengthened its Sustainability Report by incorporating the Global Reporting Initiative guidelines.
In its new Sustainability Report, Ternium details progress in achieving the Company's objectives in a sustainable way. For the 2019 edition, the report was prepared taking into account the guidelines established by the United Nations Global Compact, the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), and the World Steel Association (worldsteel). The process involved consultation with the company’s different stakeholders – a materiality study – to determine the topics to be covered.
“Ternium's value proposition aims to achieve profitable operations in a sustainable manner, through a management approach embracing the interests of shareholders, employees, customers, and suppliers, as well as those of the community," highlights the report.
The report describes the actions taken by Ternium to achieve its objectives in six priority areas:
- Business strategy development
- Improvements in safety performance
- Minimizing environmental impact
- Developing the potential of the Company’s employees
- Strengthening the value chain
- Supporting the prosperity of its communities
In his introduction, Paolo Rocca, Chairman of Ternium, emphasizes that following the extraordinary results achieved in 2018, the operational and financial results for 2019 were solid. “We continue to consolidate our position as a leading Latin American steel producer with a strong focus on serving the industrial and construction sectors. In Mexico, we started up new galvanizing and painting lines expanding our product range for industrial markets, which account for over 50% of our sales in the country.”
Ternium, employing 20,000 workers, had an EBITDA of USD 1.5 billion in 2019, creating USD 10.3 billion in economic value, and making investments worth USD 1.1 billion.
Ternium CEO Máximo Vedoya highlights in the report that the new hot-rolling mill currently under construction at the Pesquería plant in Mexico is equipped with the most advanced technology which will allow Ternium to consolidate its leadership in the Mexican flat steel market. This comes at a time when the recently-signed trade agreement between Mexico, the United States, and Canada (USMCA) is opening up opportunities for the Mexican industry within the post-pandemic recovery scenario.
Ternium employs 20,000 workers.
Focus on the environment
Rocca emphasizes the importance of safety and the focus on reducing the environmental impact of operations as an integral part of the Company's management focus and routines.
In 2019, Ternium invested USD 120 million in projects to enhance its environmental, energy and safety performance by modernizing its facilities. The main investments targeted reductions in particulate emissions from the steel mills, thus improving air quality and working conditions, as well as reducing water consumption rates, especially in Mexico.
One of the outstanding moments of 2019 was when worldsteel recognized Ternium as a Sustainability Champion. The company plays an active role in worldsteel's climate action initiatives and recently joined the Step Up Program to reduce carbon emissions through benchmarking. It also signed the UN Global Compact to contribute to advancing its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Throughout the report, readers will be able to identify which SDG is the focus of each action detailed.
“In the past five years, we have implemented a number of energy-saving initiatives which have yielded an annual reduction of 298,000 tons of carbon emissions,” explains the Chairman.
He adds that the company is working with industrial gas companies serving the soft drink bottling industry to recycle the carbon emissions captured in production systems. “The challenge of reducing emissions to meet the Paris Agreement commitments is, however, of a different order of magnitude and will require a coordinated response from our industry alongside governments, customers, and suppliers. Our ambition is to be at the forefront of our industry’s response to this challenge,” he adds.
The value of education
One of the milestones of the Company’s relationship with its communities is the graduation of the first class of students from the Roberto Rocca Technical School in Pesquería, Mexico. In 2019, the educational center won a worldsteel Steelie Award in the “Excellence in Education” category. The company maintained its investments in educational activities and infrastructure in the communities.
Education also played an important role within the company with the launch of the Ternium University, the corporate university providing employees with the tools needed to develop their knowledge and skills, in August 2019.
Last year, employees received an average of 62 hours of training and in the most recent personnel survey, 83% of those surveyed expressed their satisfaction with the company as a good place to work.
Response to COVID-19
Rocca also addresses the global crisis resulting from the coronavirus pandemic and highlights the comprehensive response plan launched by Ternium to ensure workplace health and safety and strengthen the network of hospitals in its nearby communities, as well as support customers and suppliers through this difficult time.