The Acindar steel plant in southern Santa Fe brought forward its technical stoppage scheduled for the end of the year and the metallurgists from the town of Villa Constitución expressed his concern about the suspension and advancement of vacations for some 700 workers.
As warned by the union’s union local UOMthe company owned by the Indian group ArcelorMittalannounced an “untimely” advance of the stops they had scheduled for the end of the year, “due to the sharp drop in sales.”
Sector sources revealed that Acindar worked this year at 50% of its installed capacitydue to the decrease in construction and industrial activity, two key sectors in steel demand, which fell 19.5% and 12.4% from January to September.
In the steel industry there is a delicate situation of tension, due to a very strong decline in demand for steel and the opening to imports from China. It is estimated that of the total number of suspended employees, about 400 are contractors.
Besides, Pablo Gonzalezgeneral secretary of the UOM Villa Constitución section, added a pond in the joint discussion for new salary increases. “Lack of sales due to no public works and no traction on the domestic market. This is what we announced at the end of last year and the beginning of this year. For the first time, there will be so little production”detailed the leader of the local UOM, pointing out the profound drop in production: Acindar produced only 600 tons in 2024, compared to 1,200,000 kilos in 2023.
“It is not because of an ideological difference, but reality marks a crisis in the macro sector”González stated in dialogue with El Destape.
The newspaper NORTE indicated that the new round of massive suspensions adds to other similar situations recorded throughout the year, when on two occasions the company stopped its production, with the consequent suspension of personnel.
In this context, at UOM Villa Constitución they fear that Acindar faces a cost restructuring with an impact on jobs.
Metallurgical activity does not rebound: November data
The metallurgical sector recorded, during November, a drop in production of -7.1% year-on-year and compared to October 2024, production decreased -0.9% without seasonality. In this way, it accumulates a contraction of -12.9% in relation to the same months of the previous year.
The report prepared by the Department of Economic Studies of the Association of Metallurgical Industrialists of the Argentine Republic (ADIMRA), points out that the utilization of installed capacity is 50.5% and has also registered a decrease, being -4.5 percentage points below the same month of the previous year and -8.9 percentage points below the 2023 average.
In the internal analysis of the metallurgical industry, we can observe, again, a fall in all the subsectors that make up this industrial network, with the exception of Agricultural Machinery and Bodywork and Trailers, two items that the previous year had been among the most affected by the drought.
Due to the strong contractions in activity verified in recent months, the level of employment provided by companies in the sector, An interannual decrease of -1.5% is observed. If we compare against the month of October, there were no variations.
Source: Ambito
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