The Indian ambassador, Ajaneesh Kumar, rejected accusations of dumping by Techint, after the Welspun company was awarded the tender to provide pipes to Southern Energy (SESA), the consortium that is carrying out the project to construct a 480-kilometer pipeline that will transport gas from Vaca Muerta to the black port of San Antonio Oeste.
The%20company%C3%B1%C3%ADa%20of%20origin%20Indian%20was%20chosen%20due%20to%20that%20presented%C3%B3%20the%20proposal%20m%C3%A1scompetitive,%20by%20203%20million%20of%20d%C3%B3lars.%20In addition%C3%A1s,%20offered%C3%B3%20a%20greater%20flexibilityin%20the%20form%20of%20payment%20and%20in%20the%20guarantee%C3%ADso%20that%20its%20competitors.%20The%20axis%20of%20pol%C3%A9mica%20is%20that%20the%20prices%20of%20Tenaris,%20of%20group%20Techint,%20were%20a%2040%%20m%C3%A1s%20highsand,%20although%20was%20reducing%20those%20values%20during%20the%20bidding%20process,%20did not%20achieve%C3%B3exceed%20a%20Welspun.
In this context, in dialogue with Infobae, Kumar stated that “dumping did not exist”, in the face of reports of a possible formal complaint of this unfair practice by the company led by Paolo Rocca.At Casa Rosadad they rule out taking measures in this regard for the moment.
As for the reasons why Welspun competes with lower prices, Kumar said: “We have mineral deposits in our own country, labor that is still a little cheap and good productivity.”
At the same time, the diplomat stressed that India closed a free trade agreement with the European Union and that this constitutes a certification that they do not incur dumping or anything similar, taking into account the bloc’s regulations.“We have very transparent practices and solid institutions,” he added.
Kumar also denied that Welspun is going to manufacture the tubes with Chinese sheet metal: “There is no such thing.”In turn, he expressed discomfort at the comparison with the Asian country, given that India is the fourth largest economy globally.“India is not China, India is the largest democracy in the world,” he assured.
The ambassador said that the firm is a giant, with plants in India, the United States and Saudi Arabia, which is helping to expand the infrastructure in his country and that the pace of expansion could not be sustained if the materials were imported.“We are developing and without steel nothing moves,” he noted.
“Everything is going to come out of our factories in India,” said Kumar, highlighting that they are one of the main steel producers in the world.He even said that they have a ministry dedicated exclusively to this industry and that they are on the way to making green steel.
To illustrate what he said, he mentioned other important companies such as Tata Steel, Jindal and Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL), which is state-owned.
An important point made by Kumar in relation to the supposed supply from China is that Narendra Modi’s government promotes the “Make in India” program, an initiative that grants tax and regulatory benefits to local production, with the aim of turning the country into a major global manufacturing hub and reducing dependence on purchases from abroad.
“There is no controversy on our part. It is something very simple. A large Indian company participated in a tender and won because of its price and quality,” Kumar summarized and clarified that the embassy was not aware of Welspun’s offer for the project since they believe it is a private matter.
In any case, he was in contact with the company, which for now has not made public statements.The executives’ question was: Why is this happening in Argentina?
On the other hand, regarding President Javier Milei’s reaction to what happened with Techint, the ambassador expressed: “He has been very kind in giving a very clear response. As a diplomat, I am very satisfied.”
It is worth remembering that Milei stated in hisIn short, he described Rocca as “Don Juntarín.”
Later, from Mar del Plata, Milei stated in clear reference to the topic: “The only way to grow is by serving others with better quality goods at a lower price.”
“Those who have more expensive and lower quality products are not worthy of the favor of the market and if they want to do it by force with shady deals with the State, they must disappear and go bankrupt,” he added.
The Minister of Deregulation and Transformation of the State, Federico Sturzenegger, also echoed the controversy.”In the end it seems the most logical thing, right?: if we can produce it here, why would we import it? However, a finer analysis reveals that there are arguments that suggest the opposite,” the official began.
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“As the price of gas is fixed, perhaps we would have paid that higher cost with a higher price of energy for thousands of companies (including SMEs) and consumers. It is the Argentine cost that they tell you,” he warned.
“Not providing cheaper inputs would be a bad deal for companies and the country,” he said.
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