Techint to invest $6.6 bln in Mexico despite crisis

MEXICO CITY, Oct 8 (Reuters) - Argentine construction conglomerate Techint is going ahead with $6.6 billion investments in steel and mining in Mexico despite panic in global markets, the group's top executive said on Wednesday.

Techint, which controls Tenaris (TS.N)(TENA.BA) (TENR.MI), the world's leading producer of seamless steel pipes for the energy industry, will spend $1.6 billion to expand a steel tube plant in Veracruz, Paolo Rocca, head of the group told a press conference.

The tubes are used by Mexico's state-run oil monopoly Pemex in their oil and gas installations.

"The Techint group has confidence in Mexico ... beyond the turbulence that we are seeing today," said Rocca, in an event with President Felipe Calderon.

The Mexican currency and stock markets reeled on Wednesday, responding to volatile trade in U.S. markets as investors react to a spreading financial crisis.

The Techint group will invest $1 billion over the next five years in iron ore mining projects in the states of Michoacan, Jalisco and Colima through its subsidiary Ternium (TX.N), Rocca said.

The construction of a new flat steel plant in the northern city of Monterrey will cost Techint $2.5 billion in its first phase and $1.5 billion in a second phase, he said.

Calderon said the investment was a sign that Mexico's economy was strong despite the financial turmoil.

"This global crisis, the worst the world has seen in the last 70 or 80 years, will unfortunately have a negative impact on our country, but I want to emphasize that the strength of our public finances ... will allow us to mitigate the negative impact," Calderon said. (Reporting by Mica Rosenberg, Tomas Sarmiento and Miguel Angel Gutierrez; Editing by Bernard Orr)