The steel group Acindar he announced it on Tuesday will paralyze its industrial plants across the country between March 18 and April 15for a strong one decline in salesestimates that according to company sources it would fluctuate between 35% and 40%.
“We knew a difficult year was coming, but the fall is much greater than we project“said the director of Institutional Relations of the industrial group, Facundo Velasco.
And he remarked: “In the 20 years that I have worked in the company such a collapse has never been recorded“.
The director underlined this Acindar will give “unused holidays, compensatory francs and we send staff to train on safety, a very important issue for the group and one on which we must never let our guard down.
In the province of Santa Fe, the Acindar group owns Villa Constitución steelworks and industrial plants in rosary beads and production plants in The TabladaBuenos Aires, e VillaMercedesSaint Louis.
The Acindar manager also stated that “all plants will be stopped for the same period of time and then particular situations will be monitored”, although he did not rule out that the paralysis of activity could extend beyond April.
Regarding the marked decline in sales, Velasco said that “this is a general situation in the country, which is beyond the company’s capabilities. Demand from industry and construction has decreased very sharply,” he said.
Finally, he indicated that since the group’s objective is “to take care of the sustainability of the business and the employment of our employees, we stop production to adjust the level of stocks to the lower current and expected sales”.
“The company has a plan to increase exports, but foreign sales are not enough to compensate for the decline in the domestic market,” he concluded.
The Argentine steel company Acindar is controlled by the multinational ArcelorMittal. It has factories in the cities of Villa Constitución and Rosario (in the central province of Santa Fe), in the Buenos Aires cities of La Tablada and San Nicolás, and in the city of Villa Mercedes (in the central province of San Luis).
According to a report from the Argentine Chamber of Steel, crude steel production saw a 7.8% year-on-year decline last January, while rolled steel production saw a 21.8% year-on-year decline.
The decline in demand for steel products is directly linked to the contraction of activities in sectors such as construction, the automotive industry and the production of household appliances, in a context of collapse in mass consumption. According to the consultancy firm Ferreres & Asociados, in January 2024 the general level of activity recorded a decline of 3.8% year-on-year. For its part, the seasonally adjusted measurement recorded a contraction of 0.8% compared to the previous month.
“These extraordinary measures have the sole purpose of minimizing the impact of the current situation. The company’s will at all times is to redouble its efforts to preserve people, understanding that the only way to achieve this objective is ensure the sustainability of the business”, assured Acindar, who indicated that it is looking for alternatives to compensate for the decline in domestic sales by seeking new export markets for its products.
Source: Clarin
