In just four years, 8,000 jobs were lost and production levels are the worst in the whole decade. This is the chronicle of a collapse
12.04.2019 • 18:32hs • Crisis´ southern pole
Crisis´ southern pole
Exclusive: out of a total of 30 electronics companies in Tierra del Fuego, today there are only 4 standing and operational
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"No Brazilian, American or German president, right or left, would think of bastardizing a key industry for the future as the electronics industry," says Tierra del Fuego governor Rosana Bertone with fury.
His words have a clear target: Mauricio Macri, who harshly criticizes the industry of Tierra del Fuego. Moreover, he foists him for having squandered multimillion-dollar funds for a very poor final result - the mere assembly of imported pieces - and blames him for the lack of concrete advances and few value-added developments.
Macri laments that in Ushuaia "there is a single dock" for cruises, an investment that he classified as "minor" in front of "the millions destined to subsidies to have an industry assembling cell phones".
For the Executive, that area of the country "brings together necessary and genuine work for the logistics of Antarctica and all fishing". With these words, he clearly expresses his vision about the future of the southern pole.
Specifically, it considers that it must become a food export hub and that it must abandon the idea of producing technology, as it does not have sufficient scale, nor generate disruptive innovations globally, nor be able to compete with cheap labor from Asian countries. .
"The words of the President are lamentable, and with total contempt for the electronic industry of our province, he speaks of the expensive subsidies that are destined to promote the industry and that could go to other works," Bertone defends from his iPhone phone that, true, it does not leave the Fueguinas assembly lines.
More abandoned sheds
The fight between both leaders takes place in a very particular context: it is the worst moment that crosses the pole, whose normative support is the regime of industrial promotion relaunched in times of Cristina Kirchner, back in 2009.
On the island, practically all variables move in negative territory, starting with production volumes and employment levels, which are reflected in the number of companies that have already had to close their doors.
Numerous companies with their assembly lines - from which TV sets, cell phones, air conditioners or computers used to be - were converted into completely empty and abandoned sheds.
A survey carried out by the Metalworking Workers Union in Ushuaia and Rio Grande, to which iProUP agreed, sets figures for the matter:
- Some 10 firms that were part of this productive pole have stopped operating
- Another 10 are with total or partial suspensions
- Only 4 maintain relative normality, remark from the union
The following infographic details the companies that have been inactive
The beginning of this wave of closures began when, at the beginning of the change management, the Government modified the conditions of the Connect Equality program, leading IFSA -which produced laptops- to a crisis situation.
The panorama was aggravated when, at the beginning of 2017, an official measure eliminated tariffs on imports of notebooks to promote a sharp drop in prices in the local market and greater competition from abroad.
The leader of a leading company warns iProUP that none of this has been completed: "Due to devaluation and high interest rates, domestic sales have plummeted. Today, almost 90% of the market is dominated by two brands and the offer of models is very poor ".
- At the end of IFSA, which developed the BGH Positivo line, other names were added:
- One of them is the autopartista Visteon (made washing machine)
- Two others are Leanval and Telecommunications Fueguinas (cell phones)
- It also stopped operating JO & ED (TV and microwave)
- The collapse was annexed by Interclima (air conditioners), Mirgor Group
- Foxman was also inoperative (air conditioners): it was taken by workers who went out to sell equipment to support their families
- Added to the debacle was Audivic (TV and air equipment): about 70 employees are trying to turn it into a cooperative
- KMG Fueguina has just closed its blinds: it had the license to produce Kodak articles, including cell phones
- According to the UOM, another 10 companies are on the edge of the abyss and operate with suspensions
- Another resonant case is BGH: of 1,800 employees (year 2013) today less than half were left (800)
- Carrier is another "heavyweight" who succumbed: of almost 500 workers (2013), now less than 200 are counted
Alert for employment
In this context, UOM sources indicated that "only four of the province's total electronic companies operate with full-time", although they are using only 40% of the installed capacity, on average.
All this translated in that the level of employment of the island today is the lowest in a decade. Specifically, according to the latest report of the UOM, there are about 6,173 employees in the electronic polo. Of that total, eight out of ten are hired and the rest is temporary assistance.
To put it in perspective, in November 2015, before the collapse, under this industrial regime there were more than 14,100 people. That is to say, in just over four years, about 8,000 jobs were cut, a collapse close to 60%.
To this figure are added more than 1,000 posts lost in other industrial sectors, also on the island, such as textiles or auto parts. The aggravating factor is that this information, which has just been known, corresponds to the end of February.
"We are waiting for the new affidavits of the companies and, for the March data, we expect the number to be much lower, due to the large number of voluntary withdrawals that occurred in that month," warned another source who requested strict off the record.
The fact that 8,000 jobs have been lost in such a short time led to a social crisis difficult to sustain.
"We are seeing that there is a strong emigration from the island to the rest of the country, many of those who were left without work, not finding where to relocate, decided to return to their provinces of origin or to places where they have relatives," she stressed. source.
In another order, he also criticized Gov. Bertone: "During his tenure, he convened a single multisectoral meeting in defense of the Fuegian industry."
Loose projections
AFARTE sources assured that they observe the situation with great concern. "We have not yet seen any indication that the economic situation is starting to rebound, demand is flattened, for the moment there is not much optimism," they said.
Expectations in the summer spoke of an improvement expected for April. But now, with a volatile dollar and the timing of the elections in time of discount, no company makes positive projections.
On the contrary, the remaining companies are sharply cutting their production goals:
- Televisions: aim to manufacture 2.2 million LEDs, exactly 1.1 million fewer units than in 2018, while it is the lowest figure since 2009
- Cell phones: the guideline is to reach 7.5 million teams, 400,000 less than last year and the worst record since 2010
- Air conditioners: 850,000 units are expected in 2019, compared to 1.2 million in 2018. As in the previous cases, this is the worst figure in a decade
Without prospects of improvement for consumption, with a dollar that offers no certainty and with an election process just around the corner, Tierra del Fuego is attending its most critical moment since the previous government relaunched it.
There are ten closed floors. And nobody dares to ensure that this figure does not expand in the coming months.
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