REGION REPORT | LATIN AMERICA


R A Harrington Hoists factory installation.


damaged. The automotive sector also suffered, but not as badly since most auto- part fabrication in Mexico is for export to the US.”


“Countries in Latin America have been


evolving at different rates,” says Karsten Hönack, STAHL CraneSystems regional sales manager for Latin America. “The development of free trade agreements has been positive for the region. One is the latest ‘Trans-Pacific Partnership’, which is expected to provide greater stability on the west coast of South America. Stahl is a Columbus McKinnon brand, and the partnership has been benefitting from such agreements. “For example, we completed a project in Columbia in mines up to 4,000 meters above sea level.” The various countries are also influenced


by the key vertical markets that drive their economies, says Oseir Garcia Andrade, Latin America marketing manager of Columbus McKinnon. “In Mexico, automotive plays a key role, as do oil and gas. Peru and Chile are highly dependent on mining. In Colombia, power generation is a key vertical market while Argentina is highly dependent on chemical processing.” Yosu Ezpeleta, commercial director of


GH Cranes for the Andes region, agrees: “Peru and Colombia are countries that are very different from each other. In Peru,


industry is highly centralised in Lima and essentially involves mining. Larger capacity cranes are therefore needed. Colombia is more complex because the industry is more diverse and is spread over different cities - Bogotá, Medellín, Cali and Barranquilla are the main ones - and the cranes in general are of low capacity. In Ecuador, we are involved in mining and cement projects, and also, through our distributor, on the new Quito Metro, both in the civil works and in the train workshop yard. And in Bolivia we are working through distributors in the energy, cement and sugar processing sectors.” So Latin America as a term is a bit of a


catch-all. It does though have historical and cultural meaning: past links with Portugal and Spain still have their influence today, as Ezpeleta points out: “The South American market is very attractive for us: the cultural affinity with the Andean countries makes us, as a Spanish company, feel at home. That’s why GH is committed to increasing its presence with its own subsidiaries in Peru, Colombia and Brazil, and distributors in Bolivia, Ecuador, Argentina and Chile.” Even so, it has not been easy. “At


first, GH was relatively unknown in the Andean Community and for that reason we proposed new strategies to improve our position in the market. We set up a


subsidiary in Peru, followed by another in Colombia. The key in those early days was to find the right people locally to win contracts in important projects for prestigious companies. That opened many doors for us.” Even with those advantages, it is not an


easy continent to work in. “In general,” says Ezpeleta, “access to certain resources in South America is not like in other countries, and this means that decision-making takes longer and our growth in the market is slower.”


Which makes, perhaps, for slower


uptake of the newest technologies or harder work in selling their virtues: “For this reason, it is very important to be able to explain our technical strengths and added values to our customers,” he says. “Variable frequency drives in all movements, and our ‘Corebox’ system for the recording of loads and SWP of the machine are features that are included as standard. We have to demonstrate the advantages of these with facts, to show that, although the competition may offer slightly cheaper products, on many occasions these do not really satisfy the customer’s requirements. The purchase of these machines should be seen by our customers as a long-term investment, giving more safety, productivity, fewer unexpected stoppages, and savings


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