In the first two months of the year the drop in imports accentuated. And in the absence of dollars, analysts predict this that restriction will be felt more strongly as 2023 progresses.
Shortages of goods and supplies affect everyone, from five-star hotels to SMEs and consumers who want to change their mobile phones, drink a foreign beer or going crazy to make a deal at home.
Tins of tuna, bananas, hearts of palm, beers, potato chips, diapers and mushrooms are the categories that supermarkets lack, according to details from a major chain. And they add that the shortcomings are also noticeable in the gondolas of electronics, textiles and toys.
“It is making it very difficult for us to renew the farm-to-table fleet due to problems with imports“, says Gonzalo Santander, CEO of Grupo Traslada, an Argentine SME specializing in enterprise mobility solutions.
The company works with vehicles with an average age of three years. And after the pandemic it is not only difficult for them to get new units, but also have to deal with the lack of parts or accessories for used vehicles.
“Now delivery times are very long, there are categories of cars that have stopped being produced or that do not enter Argentina and values have skyrocketed due to the shortage existing on the market. Added to this is the fact that maintaining a used vehicle in good condition is becoming more and more expensive, due to the lack of spare parts, the value of the labor and, in some cases, the inability to access essential parts or accessories such as the tyres. “, explains Santander.
The alternative solution found by Grupo Traslada was to incorporate new categories of vehicles, such as the SUV (Sports Utility Vehicle), which in Argentina has not been installed for the transport of passengers and expand the color range of cars accepted to provide the service. “Models and brands of cars not used in the sector have been incorporated, in some cases with less comfort, but favoring the possibility of renewing the fleet and having newer vehicles.”
lack of elevators
Ernesto Espoille, president of the Federation of Associations and Chambers of Elevators of the Argentine Republic (FACARA), says that “the works are stopped due to lack of lifts and escalators. There are no variable speed drives for elevators, guides, parachutes, hydraulic shock absorbers, electronic components for controls, door operators, speed controllers, etc.”
“I have two escalators for the Mendoza Hyatt and one Pilar bingo escalator, which have been stopped at the port for 2 months“, says Espoille. “But there are importers who ‘speak’ with the officials of the Secretariat, obtain the SIRA, the import authorizations”, he slips.
Even Sergio Angiuli, head of the Chamber of Hardware and Related Products, says that there is a lack of imported products”It greatly affects companies that lack inventoryThey break it quickly. The big importers have stocks, but they sell with quotas to be dosed. There is a lack of raw material to produce in the country. For example, factories producing plastic toilet accessories are late in delivering because of this problem. Some of the harder to find consumables include flux/mig wire, chemical drill bits and heavy duty nuts.”
Not all sectors are subject to the same restrictions. “We have had very partial releases of raw materials, but production does not stop“, explains Francisco Schang, director of the Argentine Chamber of Animal Nutrition Societies (CAENA).
“With the drought, the field of animal nutrition is very important for the agricultural chain. The Government understands this perfectly and is responding to our requests. It is not the ideal world, but we are not in a critical situation as in times past. We are stressed week after week, but we hold onShang says.
Marcelo Elizondo, specialist in foreign trade, points out that even “Imports of products related to new technologies, such as computers and mobile phones, have sharply decreased. The INDEC marks a 71% drop in the two months for this type of capital goods”.
Elizondo adds that “there is a drop in imports of some luxury foods and medicines. This has to do with the fact that in January and February last year vaccines were imported a lot due to Covid and now that is not the case “.
The specialist points out that everything collapses: capital goods fall by 16% in the two months, while intermediate goods fall by almost 8% and consumer goods by 9%.
AQ
Source: Clarin
