The CEO of ArcelorMittal Mexico, Víctor Martínez Cairo, assumed the presidency of the National Chamber of the Iron and Steel Industry (Canacero) for the period 2024-2025, replacing David Gutiérrez Muguerza, CEO of the steel company DeAcero, who was in the position for three years.
In his speech, the new president of Canacero said that in the current six-year presidential term (which began in December 2019), steel industrialists invested $5.4 billion and in the next two years they will invest another $5.7 billion.
He advocated for public policies to strengthen trade relations with the United States to encourage greater use of steel made in North America. He said that due to NAFTA and the now USMCA, bilateral trade between Mexico and the United States represented more than $9.5 billion in 2023.
Regarding the threat of US congressmen to once again sanction Mexican steel exported to the United States with a 25 percent tariff, pursuant to section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, he recognized the support of the Mexican government through the Ministry of Economy , headed by Raquel Buenrostro.
He mentioned the measures adopted by the Mexican government to confront unfair foreign trade practices, among them, the temporary tariffs of 25 percent for 205 steel tariff fractions for all countries with which Mexico has not signed free trade agreements, which It is charged from August 2023 and will be charged until July 2025.
He also mentioned the homologation of tariff fractions with the United States to facilitate the task of monitoring foreign trade in Mexican steel. In addition to strengthening the traceability of steel origin, through the automatic notification scheme and the dissemination of import information.
There was also talk about the constant danger of crime in the steel industry, which suffers from average daily thefts of 25 metric tons (mt) of steel, of which only 25 percent is recovered. Rebar is the most stolen product with almost 44 percent of the total stolen. Rolled sheets are second with 16 percent of the total and wire is in third position with 13 percent.
The new leader is the CEO of the Mexican unit of the giant ArcelorMittal, the second largest steel company producing liquid steel in the world, only surpassed by the state-owned company China Baowu Steel Group, according to data from the World Steel Association.