The Dominican Steel Association (ADOSTEEL) reported that the local manufacturers of finished products of this material are in a constant search for new suppliers of raw materials, such as Mexico, Brazil and Venezuela, which allow them to guarantee the supply of the Dominican market since the tensions between Russia and Ukraine.
More than 35% of the cast iron and metals consumed in the Dominican Republic came from Ukraine, so since the conflict began, local producers have proactively begun to find new sources of supply in other countries in the region.
The executive director of ADOACERO, Marcelo Salazar, explained that the war between Russia and Ukraine is assuming historical peaks, never seen since the world crisis of 2008, in the international prices of billets, which is the raw material of the finished products of steel.
Salazar indicates that the Dominican Republic is working hard to mitigate these international impacts in the best possible way, with the fundamental objective that the market can always be supplied.
“The great advantage that we have as a country is that thanks to the fact that we have a local industry, we have a much greater capacity to be able to guarantee the supply of finished steel products to the market, despite the international difficulties that have exacerbated the conflict between Russia and Ukraine,” Salazar said.
He added that other countries in the Central American and Caribbean region, since they do not have a local industry, depend 100% on imports, so if there is a shortage in the market, their construction industry is strongly affected and threatened: “Thank you. to the local production that we have, the Dominican Republic does not live that reality”, he assured.
The executive also highlighted the importance of the local industry regarding the generation of foreign currency, since finished steel products are exported from the Dominican Republic to more than 25 countries in the region.
For ADOACERO, it is vitally important to continue working hand in hand with the authorities to continue monitoring the markets to provide Dominicans with the best possible solutions and continue promoting the state plan for low-cost housing and the country’s construction sector in general, which was one of the pillars of national economic growth in 2021.
