Leader Showcase: Fuentes a Passionate and Innovative Leader in Kentucky Metals

Cristobal Fuentes’ leadership has significantly helped shape the development of the Kentucky metals ecosystem since his arrival in the Commonwealth in 1990.

Based on his success at Acerinox S.A.’s facility in Algeciras, Spain, the company asked him to move to the U.S. to build and operate the company’s new development in Carrollton, Kentucky: North American Stainless.

The company’s production facility sits on 1,400 acres in Carroll County, with direct access to the Ohio River and minutes from I-71. Fuentes and his team built the greenfield development project for maximum efficiency, with all the company’s production lines on a single site and with immediate transportation access for supplies and for distribution.

Today, NAS is the largest fully integrated stainless-steel producer in the U.S. and employs 1,600 people plus 500 on-site service providers.

Since the company’s founding, Fuentes has overseen the original construction of North American Stainless’ campus, 13 subsequent expansions and service centers in Mexico, Canada, Penn, Georgia and Illinois.

In January 2023, NAS announced its latest expansion, a $244 million investment that will create 70 new jobs.

The company is a vital member of the Acerinox Group, which has continued to grow as one of the world’s largest stainless steel companies, providing NAS access to the company’s global resources and international markets. In addition to his work at NAS, Fuentes is a member of the board of directors of Acerinox Group German subsidiary VDM Metals USA.

Fuentes, who holds a Master’s degree in metallurgical engineering, has made the region his home over those 33 years–raising his family in the area, including now two grandchildren. His daughter Clara graduated from the University of Notre Dame in neighboring Indiana and is now a pediatrician just up the river at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center.