Almost 50 percent of imported rebar doesn’t meet Chilean quality standards

Almost 50 percent of a sample of imported rebar analyzed by Chilean steel institute (ICHA) doesn’t meet the nation’s quality standards, ICHA said on Thursday.
According to the Chilean steel institute, 48 percent of a sample of imported rebar tested didn’t meet the nation’s quality standards, which mean they’re not approved for use in concrete structures in the local civil construction market.

ICHA said such situation represents a “call to attention” for the country, in the sense it needs to take “corrective actions” to control the quality of the product.

“We consider that the noncompliance [to the nation’s requirements] detected [in the rebar sample] implicate in an irregular quality of the material, which could change the structural behavior of the buildings that used such steel”, ICHA president, Sergio Contreras, said in a statement.

ICHA said 25 samples of imported rebar were analyzed. The samples were bought in six sales points in the Chilean metropolitan area during the months of November and December.