UPDATE 1-Ternium set to refurbish Brazilian steel mill blast furnace

(Recasts with company confirmation and comment)

By Rodrigo Viga Gaier

RIO DE JANEIRO, May 24 (Reuters) - Steelmaker Ternium said on Tuesday it is a planning major overhaul of one of the two blast furnaces in its steel mill in the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro.

"The planned investment for the refurbishment of the equipment is scheduled to start in 2025," Ternium said in a statement. Reuters reported the planned move earlier on Tuesday, citing sources.

The company plans to invest around 1.3 billion reais ($269.63 million) in the refurbishment, two sources close to the matter said on Tuesday.

The company did not comment on the amount it planned to invest or on the expected time frame.

The renovation and modernization of the equipment, which has 2.5 million tonnes of annual capacity, is expected to take months to complete, the sources added.

The plans come at a time when Brazilian steelmaker Usiminas , in which Ternium shares a controlling interest, is also preparing to renovate the largest blast furnace at its Ipatinga plant in the state of Minas Gerais. That task should take 110 days and is set to begin in April 2023.

Ternium's Rio de Janeiro plant, known as Companhia Siderurgica do Atlantico (CSA), has two blast furnaces, with the combined capacity to produce 5 million tonnes of steel per year.

The idea is to rebuild the thermal insulation of the blast furnace and update auxiliary technology.

The sources added that Ternium's Rio unit is producing around 4.5 million tonnes a year in total, with a good part of the output being exported. ($1 = 4.8215 reais) (Reporting by Rodrigo Viga Gaier in Rio de Janeiro Writing by Carolina Pulice and Peter Siqueira Editing by Matthew Lewis)