Argentina-based aluminum producer Aluar Aluminio Argentino SAIC has scaled back its output as the COVID-19 coronavirus spreads into Latin America. Argentina’s government reported the 1,000th confirmed case of the virus within its borders on Tuesday, March 31.
The reduced production at Aluar follows a pattern in most parts of the world, where primary and secondary metal cutbacks have closely followed the closing of factories and construction sites that consume metal. (A notable exception has been China, where melt shops largely continued output even as auto sales dropped by 80 percent year-on-year and construction work halted in February.)
According to an online item by the Buenos Aires Times, Aluar has announced it is reducing production by an additional 25 percent at its Puerto Madryn primary aluminum plant in that southern Argentinian city. The company reportedly has cited Argentina’s “nationwide shutdown” in response to COVID-19 as the reason.
The March 31 measure by Aluar follows one an earlier in March in which it scaled back an initial 25 percent from full capacity, according to the Times. The plant can produce up to 460,000 metric tons of primary aluminum but it now operating at half that capacity.
Companies around the world have been slowing down operations as workers are ordered to stay home to contain the spread of the coronavirus.
The Aluar cutbacks follow similar measures around the world as nations have issued “shelter in place” orders to contain the spread of COVID-19. Among global producers, Norway-based Hydro is one that has announced plant closings, while United States-based Alcoa and Novelis have not issued announcements on cutbacks.
Some steelmakers have been more public about their capacity reductions, including Luxembourg-based ArcelorMittal and Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel Corp.
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