Ecuador's steel industry remains severely down from where it was a year ago, according a report from a local metals group.
Ramiro Garzon, president of the Ecuadorian Federation of Metal Industries, said in a report this week that the average cost of steel per mt in
Ecuador as of last December was $1,500, and that due to the global financial crisis, the price has dropped to $700. Mr. Garzon added that a decline of five percent in public investment has accelerated the drop in
construction material prices.
In 2008, the country imported 1.2 million mt of steel for US$1.9 billion, while this year, for that same quantity, the cost of those materials would only be US$910 million, Mr. Garzon explained.
Lately, steel executives have been optimistic that sales in the second half of 2009 will improve due to the recovering oil prices. However, Mr. Garzon also said, "It will be very difficult to match the bonanza we experienced last year.”