The Techint Organization Announces Investments of US$600 Million in 2013
01/23/2013 - Despite the uncertainty that dominates the global economic scenario, the Techint Organization does not want to stop its growth path and will continue to make investments in order to modernize its operations, expand its production capacity and consolidate its leadership, Techint president Poalo Rocca says.
Despite the uncertainty that dominates the global economic scenario, the Techint Organization does not want to stop its growth path and will continue to make investments in order to modernize its operations, expand its production capacity and consolidate its leadership, Techint president Poalo Rocca says.
"In 2013 we will invest a record US$600 million," said Mr. Rocca during the closing of the 11th edition of the ProPymes seminar, which held recently in Buenos Aires. He was accompanied by the CEO of Ternium, Daniel Novegil; the CEO of Ternium Siderar, Martin Berardi; the CEO of Tenaris in Argentina, Javier Martínez Alvarez; and Exiros’s CEO, Jose Gonzalez Tornquist. "Our challenges involve betting on regional integration and increase productivity to become more competitive in a context of rising costs, and an economy that will grow, in the coming years, at a lower rate than in the past decade," he said.
Mr. Rocca presented the main operational projects being implemented by the different companies of the group and stressed that this expansion creates a "traction effect" that brings opportunities for its customers and for suppliers of the SME segment. He also highlighted the need to take action in defense of the production in the region, threatened by the "predatory action of China,” which exports manufactured goods in conditions of unfair competition, and thus constitutes "an obstacle to the re-industrialization of our countries.” The head of the Techint Organization warned that, faced with a complex international context, metalworking companies must focus on competitiveness, which will require effort and investment in automation, scale, training, and management improvement, among other variables.
Ternium’s CEO, Daniel Novegil, had opened the meeting with an overview of the international steel industry and company projections. The executive presented the findings of a recent study by the Latin American Steel Association which warns of a sustained process of deindustrialization that is reflected in a loss of share of the manufacturing sector in GDP and a growing deficit in the manufacturing trade balance with China amounting to US$64 billion, which negatively impacts production in the region and ends up causing the loss of 3.8 million jobs.
"In a world increasingly volatile and uncertain, the deindustrialization must be reversed, recreating conditions that encourage productive investment and strengthen the value chain," he said, setting the association of Ternium and Usiminas in Brazil as an example of regional integration that helps to strengthen the steel industry in Latin America. "Our biggest challenge is to maintain relevant investment levels that allow us to develop and grow further in the region," said Novegil. He remarked that Siderar invested US$50 million in Argentina in 2012, and plans to invest between $220 and 240 million in 2013, numbers well above the annual average for the period 1993-2003 (US$80 million), and 2004-2011 (US$170 million).
