Acindar, a long steel producer in Argentina, has advanced its year-end shutdown at its Villa Constitución plant in Santa Fe, suspending 700 employees and 400 contractors.

The company is struggling with a production drop from 1.2 million to 600,000 tons annually, a 35%-40% sales decline, and shrinking demand from the construction sector, which contracted by 24.5% year on year.

Operating at just 50% capacity of the installed capacity, Acindar faces additional pressure from rising imports and tariff cuts. The Metalworkers’ Union (UOM) has called 2024 the company’s worst year in history.