Mr Jorge Alberto Sierra chairman of local company TerniumFerrasa told BNamericas that Colombian scrap exports are preventing the steel sector from growing.

He added that "It doesn't give us a chance to grow because the scrap is being taken to other countries such as China, where raw material exports are banned."

According to Mr Sierra, the Colombian steel sector exports very few products to China, but exports large amounts of scrap that is used as a raw material at the country's steel plants. He said that "This makes the raw material in our country expensive and limited."

Colombia's industry association ANDI has asked the government to restrict these exports, since not having this input puts the country at risk of having to import billets, leading to unemployment and decreased investments.

Mr Juan Manuel Lesmes head of local steel association Fedemetal said that "The ideal thing is to export [products with] added value and not inputs such as scrap to China, which then come back with added value."

(Sourced from www.bnamericas.com)