The industrialists of Córdoba are going for a new attempt in their —almost chimerical— objective of finding solutions to the productive crisis caused by the lack of imported inputs, parts, spare parts and capital goods. Behind that is the undisguisable external restriction that supposes the shortage of dollars that forces the Central Bank to maintain a tight grip and open the few faucets where dollars come out in droppers.
The dispute for the Government and its monetary arm to redesign the criteria for access to the Single and Free Exchange Market, where firms obtain dollars, and also to modify and establish clear criteria for the approval and entry of products that fall under the regime of non-automatic licenses have several months.
Now a key proposal is coming, face to face with the Minister of Economy, Sergio Massa.
Before the head of the Treasury, the Cordovan businessmen will renew a claim that, although it is part of the Nation’s hot agenda, is far from being resolved. And they will bring you some weighty arguments:
-That lack of criteria and times defined to approve the entry of merchandise alters all production and investment plans.
—That given the impossibility of access dollars to TCO, companies must withdraw to the financial dollar, which closed its price on Friday the 3rd at $372, just below the informal dollar and with a gap of 83% against the retailer. That is, they fall into cost overruns to import.
—That the lack of financing and access to the dollar generates more damage among small companies.
—That the current state of lack of inputs and imported goods does not affect a group of companies, but generates replicas in the production network that complicate all chains to a greater or lesser extent.
-What’s up millionaire investments at stake for Cordoba.
—That they will notice different criteria when the companies are based in the Amba compared to those that are in the inside the country.
The meeting would be in the middle of the week and is being mobilized and promoted by the leaders of the Chamber of Metallurgical Industrialists of Córdoba, who are opening the game to different entities. Business groups such as the Industrial Union of Córdoba (UIC) and the Association of Agricultural Machinery Manufacturers (Afamac) will be part of the game. Unlike other occasions, the referents of the political arc would not be added.
It should be remembered that about four months ago there was a quite powerful photo in this sense: in a meeting in which the release of imports and access to dollars to be able to produce was demanded, some 20 business chambers from Córdoba met with national legislators, the the majority of the opposition, although Eduardo Fernández was also there for the ruling party.
Ramón Ramírez, member of the board of directors of the Córdoba Chamber of Metallurgy and executive of the Montich firm, depicted what is happening today behind the scenes of the companies that make up the city’s industrial belt: “Today the moment has improved a bit. when they went from the Simi system to Sira, because everything stopped there. But the reality is that the system still does not work. We do not have access to the Mulc (Single and Free Exchange Market), we cannot pay advances, nothing, no advance abroad. So, when a company needs to invest in capital goods, tools, tooling or spare parts, everything gets complicated”, he affirms.
“We do not have access to advance payment, we do not have access to credit, we do not know when the Siras come out, because there is no system that tells you or at what terms the payments come out. For all this we repeat the requests for a hearing, which the minister would give us in the middle of the week,” Ramírez explained.
At this point, the management and negotiation linked to the demand for imports is being channeled by the Secretary of Commerce, Matías Tombolini, his Undersecretary of Foreign Trade, Germán Cervantes and, of course, Minister Massa, who defines the course politically and can hit a step forward in this regard.
Cordovan businessmen have already had meetings with the National Productivity (Industry) Secretariat and with the Central Bank. They even came to these meetings accompanied by authorities from the Ministry of Production of Córdoba and by the president of Bancor. “We had no results, they are passing the ball. Although it is an Industry issue, De Mendiguren sent us to speak with Massa”, they say.
A BLIND. A central point in the tangled system of Argentine foreign trade is the lack of clear and transparent criteria to know when an import order is approved and in what terms. A local leader acknowledged that in the absence of information on the traceability of the procedures, what companies usually do is manage several Siras. “Sometimes that creates a massive bounce and then we have massive approvals. It is not clear how it works, so the companies move however they can, because if they do not have inputs they stop, if they do not produce or sell, they run out of cash, everything is cut”.
Meanwhile, from the UIC they confirmed that they will accompany and join the management led by the Chamber of Metallurgical with the government. And they stressed that they are working with other entities, such as the Córdoba Foreign Trade Chamber (Cacec) and with the Argentine Industrial Union (UIA) itself to advance in some tools for monitoring, follow-up and information on the evolution of the Sira. “The information is quite complicated to have, there is no public portal that companies can access, so they have to fight and work to find out how we are doing,” UIC told this outlet.
“What the government has to understand —continues Ramírez— is that all the obstacles we have put production at risk every day. We cannot tell the government which company is in trouble. We have problems every day and here any company that stops can affect the entire auto parts and automotive chain. So, later we announce investments, but if they don’t give them elements to work on, it gets complicated”.
—Is there a real risk that this will affect new investments?
—I am convinced that they are clearly putting themselves at risk. Because companies do not even know when they will have the equipment. The origin is in the lack of dollars, but we have to ask that the productive sector of Córdoba be prioritized. There are basic inputs and raw materials that Argentina practically does not produce and if you have to enter components, every day you have the risk of stopping production if the Sira does not approve you. Sometimes one goes well, it takes a week, 15 days or sometimes there is a bump and two months go by. We fall into the issue of discretion, if you have arrival they will solve it easier and if not, no. For example, Toyota almost did not stop production last year, why? Because it is in the province of Buenos Aires, because it is a Toyota, for whatever reason. Here we had a lot of stops. I don’t know why, the rest stop, but Toyota doesn’t. Inside it is a bit more complicated.
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