Wineries, shopping centers, industry factories and distribution centers are structures built with steel, a type of metal that is imported from Asia and entering Port Quetzal for use in the Guatemala industry.
Erick Quan, General Manager of Metal SA, indicates that 80% of the steel they use in Stebla steels comes from China. However, the journey of this material has been complicated. It is the result of a “perfect storm” in which there is more steel demand and a port with a small space.
The steel trip begins with the purchase of the material; In Asia, it takes a month in production. In recent years, Quan identified that he has delayed a little in China for congestion: “It will be about 15 days.” This does not represent a major problem; It is on arrival in Guatemala where the process is complicated. “Last year, the waiting of the ship was more or less three weeks; it went up to four weeks; now it goes for two months to carry a ship,” says Quan.
The ship with steel, when arriving in Puerto Quetzal, meets a commercial spring of 800 meters of extension, with two bingers to manipulate general load and two for solid/liquid general load. “Ships bring all the steel we use in Guatemala, such as distributors and manufacturers. Then, they are relatively large ships that occupy space in the port,” he explains.
Boat accumulation
The Metal SA manager identifies that “before came a ship per month of steel; now almost a weekly ship, then there is a lot of accumulation of ships.” According to statistics from the National Port Commission, in 2022 the country imported 640 thousand 525 tons of this bulk, while in 2023 a total of 1 million 16 thousand 679 tons were recorded, and in 2024 1 million 273 thousand 291 tons were counted. This material comes in different forms, such as H, Wiring rolls, sheets, coils, among others.
In addition, on this trip there is another factor that Quan adds: the ships only come to Guatemala and the freight is more expensive. “The ships were cheap because they passed, say, to Los Angeles, Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Colombia, but now it is so late that the ships come only to Guatemala, because here they waste the month or two months,” he explains.
In Guatemala, steel can be discharged directly to the floor or deposited in trucks. “It happens that there are customers who ask for it – in trucks – and the trucks do not arrive, then they delay the entire operation. We, so as not to delay the operation, we ask that they be bound to the floor. And then, with a little more time, the trucks arrive and remove it,” he says.
However, rains can complicate landing and affect logistics. In order not to damage the material, the operations stop.
All this trip, until the steel on the floor in Puerto Quetzal, takes about six months. Therefore, what Quan does is “ask for the material for time, because everyone is asking for material that will use eight months.”
As for national competitiveness, there is no impact, since “all are the same”, but at the regional level, which indicates that “we are competing against El Salvador, against Mexico; there our cost rises, because the freight rises US $ 10, US $ 20 per ton.”
When there is a steel shortage because the ship is in the middle of the Pacific or anchor in Puerto Quetzal, the solution to which Quan resorts is to contact other companies that use steel. “Last year, among all those who bring steel, we were calling us: ‘Look, do you have such material? Can you lend it to me? Do you sell it to me? I have a ship waiting.’ We have been in communication,” Quan recalls.
Expanding the ability of the docks and having equipment for the discharge of the bulk are two solutions that Quan proposes so that the steel trip is more agile when arriving in Puerto Quetzal.
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