Due to the gas cuts, there are companies that stopped production until the end of July

Gas consumption by industries remains below 2025 levels. It responds to lower demand, but also at higher prices and a bottleneck in transportation It has been affecting the production of local economies for a week.

According to official information, the estimate for this Tuesday, July 7, calculated a consumption of 25.9 million cubic meters per day by the industry. A year ago the registration was 31.2 million, 17% more.

“The large industrial companies of Salta have suffered, since 6 a.m. on Thursday, July 2, a 100% restriction on the supply of natural gas, after having endured 50% limitations during the previous week,” said the president of the Salta UIA, Eduardo Gómez Naar.

For the leader, It is estimated that between 500 and 600 industrial establishments are totally or partially paralyzed in northwest Argentina. with main impact in the ceramics, beverages, sugar, citrus and tobacco sectors.

“We are consuming expensive gas, standing still and with people walking through the factory,” Julio Fazio, director of Cerámica Salteña, told Clarín. In this context, and after negotiating with the unions, it decided to stop production for 25 days. Since Tuesday they regained some access to gas, which reaches 20% of the contracted reserve and is used to keep the ovens on.

The situation is replicated in La Moraleja, a lemon and citrus producer in Salta. “Either I suspend the people or I reduce the grinding by half,” Martín Ramirez, general director of the company, told Clarín. It was for the second option. “This year I tolerate it, but if the situation is structural the problem is greater,” he added.

From the Industrial Union of Tucumán, they reported that the most critical corresponds to Cascia, a producer of gases for industry and health, which despite having contracted a “fixed” scheme, operates with restrictions, “with direct consequences on the provision of oxygen to the public health system,” the entity noted.

Industrial activity in the region consumes 1,300,000 cubic meters per day. The price at which they are contracted, in many cases with interruption clauses, is around US$4.5 per million BTU in winter. To cover the demand in these months, Refinor – a company acquired by YPF – made some 500 million cubic meters per day available to the industry, at a price of around US$10 per billion BTU. While in the market imported LNG was quoted at around US$19 per million BTU.

The situation will not stop in the short term. A solution for more gas from Vaca Muerta to reach the northern region of the country is the gas pipeline that Transportadora del Gas del Norte (TGN) plans to build, which would link Neuquén with Córdoba, but which has not yet confirmed the final investment decision.

“This crisis once again shows that the underlying problem is not the availability of gas in Argentina, but the insufficient transportation infrastructure to take the gas from Vaca Muerta to the North of the country“Gómez Naar told Clarín.