The reactions of industrialists range from astonishment to despair, but they are also mixed with the curiosity of someone who may be faced with a business opportunity that must be exploited because it is not known how long it may last.
The import boom, which we observe both in the shopping tours that take place permanently from all sectors to the various production centers in various Chinese provinces, as well as in the emergence of the e-commerce platforms Shein and Temu, It crosses a hitherto unknown border.
Santa Fe Foods, which is developing a massive 24,000 square meter warehousing and distribution center to deliver products directly from the factory to supermarkets and retail businesses, has brought in the fully assembled metal warehouses ready to assemble from China.
In fact, the structures have already been put in place. ““Everything arrived in five containers, even the screws.” They told the industrialists who devoted themselves to building warehouses in Argentina and who viewed the move with concern and a little disbelief. “If this proves to be the norm, I don’t know what we will do,” they explained.
The company in question, Productos Vida SA, also known as Vidalac, did not comment for this article, but its relatives confirmed the purchase of the entire warehouses from China. It’s a Santa Fe company with three decades of experience in the food business that will now have direct distribution to companies across the country.
The heart of the project is precisely the construction of four warehouses in the Sauce Viejo area, near the airport, where you can already see the structures that arrived from Asia in complete assembly. The publishing occupies about 12 hectares. There will be a logistics fleet consisting of the company’s own trucks and other contracted trucks.
In recent weeks, faced with the surprise news of the import of the sheds, stories spread that the company would offer itself as distributors for the sale of these Chinese structures in the country, but this has finally been denied, at least for the time being.
As El Cronista learned, the main reason they bring in prefabricated warehouses from China is simply that The cost was more favorable compared to what traditional construction looked like in the country. Although it has not been officially stated, the raw materials are 30% cheaper in steel alone.
Given these movements, there are traditional local players in the industry organizing trips to move from manufacturers to importers, a trend extending across the board in which production lines are being replaced by trading offices to bring in inputs or finished products from abroad.
This is a test case for the next stage. With mega projects related to mining, oil and gas authorized through the Large Investment Incentive Scheme, which also facilitates the entry of imported capital goods, the possibility of bringing in “complete ships” directly opens a new world in the minerals sector.
At the same time, some entrepreneurs in this sector are already learning how to travel, if necessary, to become sellers in the country of Chinese manufacturing giants of this specialty.
“I will get the machines at 30% of the market value“, revealed a few days ago Cordoba businessman Euclid Bugliotti in a radio conversation. In addition, he said that they import much cheaper tires to sell in installments. “I know that it has affected the local industry,” he admitted, while promoting that he is offering interest-free installments while warning the country’s rubber manufacturers about safety standards.
Imports from China witnessed a growth of 66% in 9 months compared to last year, according to statistics from the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (Indec). In particular, purchases of capital goods from the world are growing by 122% year-on-year
The industrial chambers are divided between those who ask the government for more time so that they can compete on equal terms with production that comes from abroad, in what the Argentine Industrial Federation calls “the need to level the playing field,” and those who see an opportunity to equip themselves at low cost and go out to buy machinery, overwhelming exhibitions such as the Shanghai Expo held at this time with a large Argentine presence.
The irony here is that China is entering into trade with Argentina at a time when the United States, with which Argentina is deepening its political alliance in exchange for financial support, places Beijing’s influence at the center of its agenda in Latin America.
In fact, in September China became the country’s main trading partner because, due to the need to obtain foreign currency before the election, reservations were reduced and soybean shipments destined for that country were airlifted.
About The Author
