The company, based in Jujuy, is in crisis, in a context of generalized decline in steel production. The Argentine Steel Chamber reported that manufacturing continues to decline.
The Aceros Zapla company, former Altos Hornos Zapla, located in Palpalá, Jujuy, is going through a crisis which caused the delay in the payment of salaries to its 240 employees and other non-compliance, which is why it is in a Preventive Crisis Procedure (PPC) that expires in the coming days, while there are fears that there will be layoffs. Due to this scenario, the sector’s union, the UOMlaunched an indefinite strike starting this Thursday, with assistance, until the firm pays the debts.
The situation is highly complex because it occurs in a context of falling demandwith data that corroborates the difficulties in which the sector finds itself. According to the latest report from the Argentine Steel Chamber, which was released this Wednesday, with a total of 359,600 tons, Crude steel production decreased by 3.0% in October compared to September, and this translates into a drop of 21.6% when compared to the same month in 2023. In addition, the production of laminates was 336,900 tons, which represented an increase of 5.6% compared to September and a drop of 17.1 year-on-year. “The activities of the different segments of the economy continue with variations, with upward and downward movements, without a clear trend, despite seeing some signs of reactivation in the sectors linked to the energy value chain,” said the report.
According to a delegate of the plant, in dialogue with Ámbito, in the Labor Directorate of the Province there have been several instances of dialogue with the representative of the firm, owned by the businessman. Sergio Tasellibut with few positive results. He PPC expires in the coming days and the firm maintained that a way out of the crisis would be found in bailing out the plant, with the offer of voluntary retirements, which was rejected. So far, the Steelworks section is paralyzed and half of the workers have some activity in Laminates. “Everything is bad, no one dares to give a forecast,” said this employee representative.
From the UOM Jujuy a statement was issued with the signatures of Alfredo Suarezits secretary general, and the deputy secretary Carlos Clementewhich noted that the force measure is “in response to the company’s failure to pay October salaries, in addition to the previously assumed quotas, as well as the non-compliance with the last joint payment and the lack of security in the jobs, since the staff has not received the protection and safety elements. The average salary of an Aceros Zapla employee is around $500,000.
Contraction
According to a report prepared by the Department of Economic Studies of the Association of Metallurgical Industrialists of the Argentine Republic (ADIMRA), which was made public last week, lThe metallurgical industry recorded a drop in production of 7% year-on-year in October. Compared to the month of September, there was a contraction of 0.2%. With October data, the metallurgy industry accumulates a contraction of 13.5% in relation to the same months of the previous year. Besides, The installed capacity is at 50.3%.
The different items that make up the metallurgical industry have registered, for the most part, for ADIMRA, negative interannual variations during October. However, the two sectors that were most affected by the drought of the previous year have verified increases in their production compared to 2023: Agricultural machinery and Bodywork and trailers. Meanwhile, the Foundry sector registered the most intense drop in year-on-year terms, followed by capital goods manufacturers, who have already accumulated a year of decreases in production compared to the same period but the previous year.
another time
Aceros Zapla was once the state-owned Altos Hornos Zapla, the first steel center in the country and which had a strategic role in the Argentine industry. Its first casting was in October 1945 and it was the heart of the city of Palpalá, next to San Salvador de Jujuy, and its surroundings because at its peak it involved labor for 5,000 workers. In the 90s it was privatized during the government of former president Carlos Menem., which produced a wave of layoffs that reduced the plant to less than a third. Currently and since 2000, its owner is Taselli. Since then, the plant suffered the crises of the country’s economic cycles, depending on the pace of economic activity of each presidential administration.
Source: Ambito
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