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Leaders of the steel industry together at opening ceremony

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Opening ceremony of Alacero-53, Latin American Steel Congress, took place yesterday at the Sheraton Hotel Santiago. The event gathered the most relevant leaders of the Steel industry. With an audience of over 800 people and the presence of Chile´s Minister of Mining, Hernán Solminihac, Congress Alacero-53 was officially inaugurated. As part of the opening ceremony, Roberto de Andraca, President of the Organizing Committee and President of Grupo CAP (Chile) and Raúl Gutiérrez Muguerza, President of Alacero and General Director of DeAcero (Mexico), welcome the participants and referred to those topics that will be central during the Congress.

“The region won’t reach the desired level of economic development, if it does not count on a strong and competitive industry that grants for diversity of the sources to create economic value and that generates stable employment of high quality”, Roberto de Andraca said. Congress activities will include several panels that will analyze global and Latin American economies. This edition will be dedicated to emphasize the importance of industrialization for Latin America’s long-run success and sustainability, the central role of steel industries in this process, and the threat that imports escalation, especially from China, brings to the region.

“In this regard, as a motor for other industries, it is our duty to collaborate with the creation of policies that promote local jobs and investments focused on industrialization for the long run. Moreover, at a continental level we should generate awareness about the importance of expanding adequate infrastructure, investments in technology and research, as well as improving educational standards in our countries”, as Raúl Gutierrez Muguerza said during his inaugural address.

Among key speakers, stands out Finn Kydland, Nobel Prize in Economics in 2004. Also Magnus Lindkvist, Director of New Trends and Future Thinking of Stockholm School of Economics. To review Latin American reality and industrial development in our continent, a group of specialists will present their perspectives in another panel: César Hidalgo, MIT Media Lab Professor (USA), Roberto Frenkel, researcher at CEDES (Centro de Estudios de Estado y Sociedad, Argentina) and Rhys Jenkins, Professor at the School of Economic Development of the University of East Anglia (UK). Also, Germano Mendes de Paula, PhD will present the results of a very recent unpublished paper that refers to “Metal-mechanic Chain en Latin America: economic relevance, opportunities and threats”.

Access to raw materials and maritime transports are two aspects that have a deep effect on steel value chain productivity and sustainability. Magnus Ericcsson, CEO of Raw Materials Group (Sweden), Richard McLaughin, Director of Hatch Associates (USA), Roberto Gottschlak, Iron Ore Sales Director for South America at Vale (Brazil), and George Cambanis, Partner and Global Leader Shipping and Ports at Deloitte (Greece) will address these matters from a global and regional perspective.

Paralell to the Congress, the most relevant companies of the steel industry, vendors and customers will show their services and products in Expoalacero 2012. As every year, Alacero Congress is home of the Steel Sculptures Exhibition with masterpieces of relevant local artists. Edition 2012 of this exhibition is currently displayed at the Sheraton Hotel. On October 31st, it will move to Las Condes Cultural Corporation building in Santiago and open up to general public till December 20th, 2012.



Source: Alacero, Santiago

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