The production of rolled sheets for the naval industry, which will be carried out again in Argentina after 50 years, is committed to covering the local demand in its entirety by the end of the year and, later, the regional market, especially the supply to Paraguay .
The input will be manufactured by the Santa Fe SME Industrial Laminateswhich has a production capacity of 200 thousand tons per year, enough to supply local demand and expand to Paraguay, Chile and Uruguay.
In dialogue with Télam, both from the private company and from the Chamber of the Argentine Naval Industry (CINA) highlighted the event as “a historic milestone for the country”, which will boost the sector and replace imports that currently come mainly from Brazil and China.
“Our plant already has the capacity to produce 200,000 tons per year and with that we would cover the local demand, that of Chile, Uruguay and Paraguay”Daniel Rodríguez Linck, commercial director of Industrial Laminates
Industrial Laminates will carry out the production line after having recently obtained the Grade A certification, which is necessary according to international standards. In this process, which took more than nine months, the SME manufactured a 500 ton sample that are available for sale today.
The commercial director of Industrial Laminates, Daniel Rodríguez Linck, told Télam: “we are thinking of supplying the local and regional market (basically the Paraguayan one). There are many shipyards that went to Paraguay and concentrated there, and we aim to cover that demand”.
“Our plant already has the capacity to produce 200,000 tons per year and with that we would cover the local demand, that of Chile, Uruguay and Paraguay,” Rodríguez Linck said.
The director of the company also assured that the product is “highly competitive” in price and qualityand maintained that “today, if our prices are compared with those of Brazil, we are lower. It is convenient for the national producer to buy from us,” he assured.
Industrial Laminates is a medium-sized company that has 100 employees and also supplies the metal-mechanic industry, the agricultural industry, and the construction of sheds, among other sectors, with its inputs.
Coinciding with Rodríguez Linck, the president of the Chamber of the Argentine Naval Industry (CINA), Silvia Martínez, indicated that the plate “will be competitive” and announced that “many shipyards have already communicated with Laminates” to acquire the input.
After five decades of welding imported plates, Argentine shipyards will be able to work again with national supplies.
The Santa Fe company Laminados Industriales SA will be the company that will produce these plates in the country.
#Growing up with production and work it is possible?? pic.twitter.com/kaV3gYpqUo— Ministry of Productive Development (@produccion_arg) May 31, 2022
The country’s return to the production of rolled sheet metal for the naval sector was announced weeks ago by the Ministry of Productive Development from the Industrial Laminates plant, in the Santa Fe town of Villa Constitución, and was attended by representatives of different shipyards. such as Tandanor, Río Santiago, Omega, among others.
On that occasion, the Secretary of Industry, Ariel Schale, highlighted that “it has been 50 years since Argentina manufactured sheet metal for the naval industry; this is also the result of having recovered the industrial policy, with more national production and more Argentine work.”
Schale emphasized that “The national industry continues to set milestones in its productive capacities”and highlighted that the naval sector “is going through one of its best historical moments” which can be verified “in the purchase orders, in the level of orders and orders that our shipyards have, almost guaranteed their production within four years”.
“For us it is very important because we have many work plans, so we need sheet metal suppliers”Pedro Wasiejko, president of the state shipyard Río Santiago
In this sense, the head of CINA described as “very important” the support of the national government to the initiative of the private sector.
Meanwhile, the president of the Río Santiago state shipyard, Pedro Wasiejko, celebrated before Télam “the excellent news that will allow the local supply of a key input for the industry,” and said that “For us it is very important because we have many work plans, so we need sheet metal suppliers”.
The naval sector is going through a period of recovery, largely leveraged by the growth of exports from the fishing sector, which in 2021 sold abroad for US$1.99 billion, which meant an increase of 15.1% year-on-year, according to Indec data.
The good performance of the fishing sector has an impact on the naval industry, by increasing the need for construction, assembly and repair of ships, among other activities that benefit.
