Posted on 25 Oct 2018
The Colombian steel sector plans to invest some $620 million in the industry by 2020, says the general director of the local steel association María Juliana Ospina. Meanwhile the association is also calling for new trade barriers against unfair imports, Kallanish notes.
According to the executive, domestic steelmakers have spent up to $100m in environmental projects so far and have pushed up production significantly. “The Colombian steel sector has increased its production by 10% during recent years and represents 10.6% of industrial GDP,” Ospina says. “One of the main challenges of our steel sector is to encourage and promote compliance with technical regulations and quality standards, as well as to equalise the conditions of unfair competition with countries such as Turkey, China and Russia,” the ceo confirms.
The Colombian steel association has announced that it is working on a series of protective measures soon to be proposed to the national government to reduce the impact of steel diversion to Colombia. “Turkish-origin products have reached 62% of total Colombian steel imports. These are below international market prices and leave the national steel industry with very few options to be competitive,“ Ospina adds.
According to the Colombian steel association, the country imports nearly 40% of its steel requirements of which 19% is from countries that do not have free trade agreements with Colombia.
