After a similar announcement in March 2024, the board of Chile’s steel producer, Siderúrgica Huachipato, informed that the plant will have to indefinitely suspend its steel production operations.
Opposed to the previous occasion, when the company blamed only the competition of Chinese steel products imported at dumped prices for the stoppage, the company now explains that the decision is based on “multiple factors” that could not be reverted in the short or medium terms.
In addition to the Chinese unfair competition, the company now lists the “impossibility to translate into prices the protective measures adopted by the authorities” and the complex financial situation that the company has faced over the last years.
In a statement, the Chilean steel institute, ICHA, regrets the fact that the domestic civil construction sector will lose the access to the rebar produced by Huachipato which meets the strict requirements of the local technical standards, considering the highly seismic condition of the country.
According to ICHA, Huachipato accounts for 19 percent of the apparent steel consumption in Chile, serving chiefly the mining and civil construction sectors.
CSH is controlled by Grupo CAP which also operates in mining, steel processing, and infrastructure activities.