Matias Kulfas, Argentina’s minister for productive development, announced the start of production of shipbuilding-grade plate at Laminados Industriales, located in Villa Constitucion, in the Santa Fe province.
According to the minister, the production of such plate in Argentina was halted fifty years ago, returning now to replace imports of the product destined to build ships and barges.
Laminados Industriales is an industry controlled by Italian shareholders, established more than 10 years ago in Argentina, with a portfolio of steel products destined to industrial sectors such as metallic structures and to machinery for agriculture, mining, bridges and ports.
According to the local press, there are doubts about the utilization of Argentina-produced plates in the current construction of a gas pipeline, which requires 33 mm thickness plates, while in the new line the maximum plate thickness is limited to 31 mm.