Santiago de Chile, March 27 (EFE).- Mobilized workers of the Chilean steel company Huachipato, in the south of the country, denounced Economy Minister Nicolás Gera this Wednesday and demanded a reversal of the closing process announced by the company. Can't compete with steel from China.
“We assumed that a Left government was going to bring solutions to think about the welfare of the workers, but we didn't see it like that. It's disappointing people because we trust this administration,” said one. Protesters who went from Talcahuano to Concepción, the regional capital, in the Bio Bío area, the head of the economic portfolio took an action.
“The region needs an answer, we cannot wait another week for them to tell us the same thing 'patience' because the region is drowning,” the workers insist.
For his part, the head of the economy responded: “We all have to do everything we can to get a different solution” and highlighted that workers' organization facilitates dialogue and “better dialogue”.
The steel firm announced last week that it would suspend operations indefinitely after considering anti-dumping measures against steel from China, a country that has a free trade agreement with Chile, given the crisis it has endured for more than a decade. Since 2006, not enough.
The Chilean government established new tariffs on imports of steel rods and balls of Chinese origin in full mobilization, publishing this Wednesday in the official gazette.
Hundreds of Huachipato workers rallied in the southern part of Bío Bío this week and unions from across the region and unions from other sectors warned of strikes to protect the local company.
Located in the southern city of Dalcahuano, 500 kilometers from the capital, Huachipado decided to close after the Anti-Corruption Commission, an independent agency that advises Chile's presidency, recommended an average tariff of 15.3% on three Chinese steel-importing companies. Balls.
This Wednesday, in an interview with a local radio station in the morning, Grau pointed out that “Huachipado should review its decision in the Anti-Distortion Commission and see if that decision should properly consider its arguments.” Companies can “appeal or revise these rates.”
“For Huachipato to be viable in the medium or long term, it is necessary to buy mines at high and stable prices. To achieve this, there are different paths to follow,” the minister added.
The figure is “insufficient” for the company, which has posted a loss of $385 million in 2023 and does not address the distortions of producing Chinese steel, which, according to its calculations, is 40% cheaper than Chilean steel.
In the past two decades, China has gone from being a major steel importer to one of the main producers, from 15% of the world's steel production in 2000 to 54% in 2023, according to Alasero, an association. Major Latin American steel companies.
Although a relatively small company in the world steel market, with an annual production of one million tons, Huachipato's situation has raised alarm bells in the Latin American region, where part of the steel that the Asian giant cannot keep comes from. Its market due to the slowdown of its economy.
The European Union and more than fifty countries, such as the United States, Mexico, Canada, Brazil and India, have used anti-dumping measures in recent years to offset the distortions in local markets caused by Chinese steel.
(c) EFE Agency
