Paraguay eyes Acepar nationalization, output stops [View all]

[Judi Lynn]

Paraguay eyes Acepar nationalization, output stops
Released in time:11/4/2013 10:04:20 PM Browse The Times:11
Tuesday, 05 November 2013

Paraguay's sole steelmaker Acepar has continued to struggle since a new consortium took control earlier this year. Over the weekend, the mill stopped production because of technical issues and, as of last week, it now faces the threat of re-nationalization, a top Acepar executive told Platts.

Paraguay president Horacio Cartes last week announced government plans to retake control of the mill. Documents to that effect have already been filed with Paraguay's mediation and arbitration center.

"To date, Acepar has been a complete failure," a statement from the president's office said. "It is on the brink of bankruptcy [with a debt of near $55 million] with obsolete machinery (and) debts with satellite companies from previous shareholders, dedicated to selling scrap and pig iron instead of producing final products of more added value."

Sergio Ferreira, director of Chacor�� - one of the companies in the consortium that purchased a controlling share in Acepar - said the consortium will accept the outcome determined by the arbitration center.

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