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Alacero Names New Officers as 53rd Latin American Steel Congress Comes to an End

10/30/2012 - On 30 October 2012, the Latin American Steel Congress, Alacero-53, came to an end after three days of intense work that gathered more than 800 representatives of the steel value chain in Santiago, Chile. New officers were named for the 2013 period.

On 30 October 2012, the  Latin American Steel Congress, Alacero-53, came to an end after three days of intense work that gathered more than 800 representatives of the steel value chain in Santiago, Chile.
As part of the Closure Ceremony, Alacero – the Latin American Steel Association - announced new officers, elected by Alacero’s Board for the 2013 period. The designation took place during Alacero´s Board meeting on 28 October 2012 in Santiago, Chile, and new officers took office today for a one-year period.
The new members of the Executive Committee are:
          Chairman: Benjamin Baptista Filho, (ArcelorMittal Brasil)
          1st Vice-Chairman: Raúl Gutiérrez Muguerza, (Deacero)
          2nd Vice-Chairman André Gerdau Johannpeter, (Gerdau)
          Secretary: Roberto de Andraca Barbás (Cap)
          Treasurer: Oscar Machado Koeneke (Sivensa)
          Directors: Daniel Novegil (Ternium), Albano Chagas Vieira (Votorantim Siderurgia), Martín Berardi (Ternium Siderar)
On behalf of the Board of Directors, Secretary General of Alacero, Guillermo Moreno, thanked Raúl Gutiérrez Muguerza, Chairman for 2012, for his leadership and support over the past year.
In parallel, during the Annual Meeting, the Board of Directors welcome Alacero´s new members:
ArcelorMittal Long Carbon Americas - AM Aços Longos, Koddaert Acero S.p.A., Harris Waste Management Company Inc, Ravagnan S.p.A., Steel Warehouse México S. de R.L. de C.V. and Kinnox, S.A.
“It is a pleasure to see how new companies grow in our industry and join our organization, as they share our message towards an industrialized and sustainable Latin America.” – said Benjamin Baptista, new Chairman of Alacero.
During the closure ceremony, Alacero also announced next Latin American Steel Congress, Alacero-54 that will meet in Lima (Peru) between November, 10 and 12, 2013. Organizing Committee invited the audience to join them in Lima with a film about the country.
This edition of Latin American Steel Congress was dedicated to address the importance of industrialization in Latin America’s long-run success and sustainability, the central role of steel industries in this process, and the threat that imports escalation, especially from China, brings to the region.
International personalities such as Finn Kydland, Nobel Prize in Economics in 2004 and Magnus
Lindkvist, Director of New Trends and Future Thinking of Stockholm School of Economics, were part of the panels that discussed current global economy.
To review Latin American reality and industrial development in our continent, a group of specialists presented their perspectives in another panel: César Hidalgo, MIT Media Lab Professor (USA),
Roberto Frenkel, researcher at CEDES (Centro de Estudios de Estado y Sociedad, Argentina) and Rhys Jenkins, Professor at the School of Economic Development of the University of East Anglia (UK).
Also, Germano Mendes de Paula, PhD presented the results of a very recent unpublished paper that refers to “Metal-mechanic Chain en Latin America: economic relevance, opportunities and threats”.
Access to raw materials and maritime transports were addressed by Magnus Ericcsson, CEO of Raw Materials Group (Sweden), Richard McLaughin, Director of Hatch Associates (USA), Roberto
Gottschlak, Iron Ore Sales Director for South America at Vale (Brazil), and George Cambanis, Partner and Global Leader Shipping and Ports at Deloitte (Greece).
Also, the most relevant companies of the steel industry, vendors and customers showed their services and products in Expoalacero 2012.
During the Congress, it also took place the Award Ceremony of the “5th Alacero Contest of Steel Design for Architecture Students 2012”, that rewarded the best project among those prepared by 1.705 students from 9 Latin American countries.
Alacero – the Latin American Steel Association- is the organization that brings together the Steel Value Chain of Latin America to promote the values of regional integration, technological innovation, corporate responsibility and social and environmental sustainability. Founded in 1959, Alacero is formed by 52 companies of 25 countries, whose production –of about 70 million annual tons- represents 95% of the steel manufactured in Latin America. Alacero is a Special Consulting Organization to the United Nations and is recognized as International Non-Government Organization by the Republic of Chile, host country of Alacero´s headquarters.