Although the UIA warns that in April there could be a slight recovery against March, it warns that the behavior will continue to be negative in the year-on-year comparison. When presenting the report, industrialists expressed their concern due to the rise in costs, the fall in consumption and the slowdown in construction.
In this context, and given the crisis in demandlarge companies are putting a stop to their activity so as not to lose with stock and are appealing to the already known staff suspensions in order not to accumulate more stock.
The most serious cases of production suspension
One of the most emblematic cases of this moment is that of Acindar, an industrial giant with its plant located in Villa Constitución, Santa Fe, which paralyzed its production due to the drop in demand for its products. Automakers also halted production this week, affected not only by the recession in the domestic market but also by delays in imports.
According to Acindarlast Friday activities were suspended in the direct reduction area, which is responsible for iron processing and this Thursday the steel mill will be added, while next week the rolling mills and wire manufacturing will do so.
The company employs 3,000 people directly and another 1,000 in various supplier workshops. All of them will be affected by the measure.
One of the hardest hit sectors is the textile industry and, as a consequence of this situation, the company Río Grande has been of suspension of its workers. He also launched a voluntary retirement program.
In May of this year, the Whirlpool appliance company had also announced a restructuring of its operation in the country, which included the cutting of a production shift and the reduction of at least 60 jobs at its Pilar plant, where 400 employees work. They also downsized their Córdoba plant. The decision was made in order to “adapt your production program to the current environment” and optimize the operation in the country for the future.
The company Mabe, which is the largest washing machine factory in the country, based in Córdobaundertook a program of voluntary retirements to reduce its money by 200 people, which would go from 1,000 to 800 workers.
These news were added to those from April, when the multinational Pepsico fired some 36 workers, almost 10% of their plant of employees of the General Savio Industrial Park in Mar del Plata, which was 400 people. The purpose of the decision, according to the company, was to “guarantee the long-term viability of the company” in the current economic context.
Crisis in automotive
The automakers also took action to stop production in order to avoid overaccumulation of inventories. This decision was combined with the holidays and resulted in a week without production.
The first factory to make this decision was Saint Elizabeth, Córdoba, where vehicles are produced for Renault and Nissan. The suspension is due to the need to adjust production to the current level of demand. In addition, Renault is considering reducing two shifts from 8 to 6 hours starting in July, a measure that would also be applied at Nissan, which operates a single shift.
Toyota, the country’s main manufacturer, will also not make vehicles throughout the week. The Japanese company has recently concluded a voluntary withdrawal plan due to the drop in exports to Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, markets that are also declining. Part of the stoppage in production is attributed to the delay in the arrival of ships with imported parts.
Fiat It will also suspend production all week due to problems with the arrival of parts from Brazil, such as the steering box. In Córdoba, many Cronos units are incomplete due to this problem. In Brazil, a similar situation affects thousands of units of a model that shares this part.
General Motors, in Santa Fe, will also suspend activity throughout the week. The terminal has made layoffs and is adjusting production to current demand. Added to this paralysis scenario is the Mercedes-Benz Van division in Virrey del Pino, La Matanza district, where a renovation is being carried out at the paint plant. On the other hand, Volkswagen, Ford and the Stellantis plant in El Palomar, where Peugeot and Citroën models are produced, reported that they will work normally.
According to data from Association of Automotive Manufacturers (Adefa), National vehicle production in May was 38,440 units, 10.6% less compared to April and 27.9% less compared to the same month last year. Although both exports and sales in the domestic market showed an improvement compared to Aprilwith increases of 11.5% and 24.1% respectively, registered year-on-year falls of 24.1% and 27.9%.
Source: Ambito
