The Green Financing Framework of the new steel mill located in the Pesquería Industrial Center has received a Medium Green rating from S&P Global Ratings, one of the most recognized rating agencies worldwide.
The Second Party Opinion issued by S&P assessed the framework’s alignment with the Green Loan Principles 2025 of the Loan Market Association (LMA), the Loan Syndications and Trading Association (LSTA), and the Asia Pacific Loan Market Association (APLMA). In its analysis, the agency applied the “Shades of Green” methodology, which classifies investments according to their contribution to a low-carbon, climate-resilient future (LCCR), as well as their ability to deliver sustainable outcomes for both climate and non-climate environmental objectives.
The outcome was a Medium Green rating, the second-highest score on this scale. This category recognizes activities that represent significant progress toward a low-carbon, climate-resilient future, while still requiring further improvements to be considered long-term solutions. The main distinction from the Green category lies in the use of green hydrogen—an alternative that, at present, is not commercially scalable nor economically competitive at a global level.
Among the environmental strengths highlighted in the project, S&P emphasized the replacement of imported slabs produced with blast furnaces by those manufactured using Direct Reduced Iron (DRI) and Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) technology. According to the International Energy Agency, this pathway is regarded as the long-term low-carbon solution for the steel industry. The shift will enable Pesquería to deliver products with a greenhouse gas intensity significantly below the global sector average and is aligned with Ternium’s goal of reducing hot-rolled steel emission intensity by 15% by 2030, covering scopes 1, 2, and 3 (Category 1 and 10).
The opinion also highlights the adoption of complementary decarbonization strategies, including energy efficiency, use of renewable energy, circular economy practices, increased scrap utilization, closed-system material handling to prevent dust emissions, wastewater reuse, and designing the plant to be prepared for a future transition to green hydrogen once it becomes economically viable.
Additionally, S&P positively assessed the carbon capture practice already implemented by Ternium in Mexico, which captures and commercializes approximately 280,000 tons of CO₂ annually.
This independent opinion is especially relevant in today’s challenging context for the global steel industry, which faces growing complexity in incorporating technologies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions in production processes.
Standard & Poor’s (S&P) is a global financial services firm specialized in risk analysis, credit ratings, and the development of benchmark indices.