August 30, 2008

Removal of US duties on Argentinean HR may not lead to exports

BNamericas reported that Argentine steelmaker Siderar is unlikely to begin exporting to the US despite the fact that the US International Trade Commission recently decided to terminate duties on hot rolled steel imports.

The report quoted Mr Cristian Reos an analyst at brokerage Allaria Ledesma as saying that "Siderar plans to expand considerably in the years to come. This decision opens the possibility of entering the US market."

However, he said that although it creates the opportunity to enter other markets, he does not believe the company will use it, because there is not a lot of surplus to be exported from Argentina. The domestic market needs almost all of its output.

Siderar sells nearly 80% of its output to the domestic market while exports are shipped mainly to Latin America and, in some cases, to Europe. According to the analyst Siderar plans to export products to Mexico, where parent company Ternium has a factory for finished products. For the first half, Siderar reported that steel demand increased on the domestic market thanks to growth in Argentina's economy, mainly in industrial activity and the construction sector.

US International Trade Commission recently reversed antidumping and anti subsidy cases in force since 2001 that affected several countries including Argentina, South Africa, Kazakhstan and Romania.