2024-09-23 21:51:29
Following confirmation of the closure of the Huachipato Steel Mill, the Executive announced the lines of action to boost industrial activity in the Biobío Region.
The Government’s plan to boost industrial activity in the Biobío Region is based on five axes of action, after This Monday the process of shutting down the furnace and closing the Huachipato Steel Mill was completed.
On Sunday night the last shift of the workers began and The shutdown of the furnace began, which was to be completed after noon this afternoon..
The company’s closure process, which was confirmed last Friday, will leave 1,200 employees, including professionals, technicians and other workers, without their source of income.
According to the company, the scheduled closure of the Huachipato Steel Mill will allow “all necessary safeguards to be adopted to ensure adequate control of potential environmental impacts, the integrity of workers and the communityas well as preventing and mitigating any potential inconvenience that may arise.”
Government measures after the closure of Huachipato
Once the shutdown of the furnace and the subsequent closure of the Huachipato Steel Mill was completed, the Government announced its plan to boost industrial activity in the Biobío Region, which It includes 32 measures distributed in five axes of action.
These axes are:
- 1.- Support and accompaniment Huachipato supplier companies at risk
- 2.- Reintegration, labour mobilityand support for the protection of labor guarantees
- 3.- Accelerate investment public and private
- 4.- Reactivation and strengthening of the industry in the medium and long term
- 5.- Medium-term recovery of national steel production
As explained by the Executive, the measures linked to these guidelines will be related to issues such as Creation of financing and investment programs for access to new clients; the relaxation of tax obligations, or the implementation of relocation subsidies for recently laid-off people.
In addition, it includes the provision of long-term training courses, support for Huachipato workers and the promotion of investment by public companies present in Biobío, for example.
Regarding the Executive’s plan for the area, the Minister of Economy, Nicolás Grau, stated that “with that feeling that something is ending, here we have also had a day, I would say, very emotional, with a lot of confidence building, where it is shown how far we can go if we all work together“.
See below how the furnace was shut down at the Huachipato Steel Mill, which concludes 70 years of history in the Biobío Region.