Brazil's annual steelmaking capacity may almost double to reach 80.6 million tons in 2015, the Brazilian Steelmaking Institute IBS announced on Thursday.

The steelmaking capacity in this south American country registered 41 million tons at the end of 2007, including those exclusively for foreign markets.

According to the institute, if only for domestic market, the sector will have a production capacity of 63.1 million tons in 2015.

It estimated that Brazil's domestic market will consume 39.8 million tons of steel in 2015, three times as much as the consumption registered in 2007, which was 11.8 million tons.

In order to achieve the aimed capacity, the sector is expected to invest 45.7 billion U.S. dollars during the 2008-2015 period, among which 27.1 billion dollars will be used to expand and modernize current plant facilities.

IBS also expected new companies to enter the sector during that period, including the Germany-headquartered ThyssenKrupp in Rio de Janeiro and China's Baosteel in Espirito Santo, and other companies in northeastern Brazil.