Peruvian steelmaker Aceros Arequipa said on Monday in a filing at the nation’s securities exchange commission, SMV, that it will suspend activities at its Arequipa mill located in the Arequipa region.
The steelmaker attributed the decision to the “unfair competition generated by the imports of sections from China at dumped prices.”
“[The mill] has no conditions to compete given the current economic conjuncture,” the company added.
Aceros Arequipa said such a scenario of competition has been hitting the company for more than a year, a period in which the steelmaker asked the country’s anti-trust authority, Indecopi, to start a probe on the imports of Chinese hot rolled steel angles, however, the authority hasn’t accepted Arequipa’s request.
The company said it will concentrate production of sections at its Pisco mill as a way to reduce costs. Aceros Arequipa said supply to clients won’t be affected.