industry
Falling prices hurt recycling
The global recession has had a harsh impact on the local recycling industry as several companies have been forced to close due to falling prices and low demand.
Recicladora Centroamericana, one of the few remaining companies in the market, said its business has fallen by 70 percent and it has reduced its staff because of the drop off in demand, both locally and internationally.
Company Director Luis Barroso said that, three months ago, the company exported an average of ten containers of recycled steel a month, but that amount has dropped to two containers.
The biggest reason for this is the drop in demand for recycled steel from China, which was the product's largest consumer.
The recycling market has also been impacted by the falling prices of raw materials.
The prices of iron, aluminum, copper and lead have all fallen in the past three months or so as demand for these materials has dropped.
Despite the fall in prices, electricity distribution companies and telecommunications businesses continue to have problems with the theft of cables and manhole covers.
Two weeks ago, there was a major theft of cables from a Elektra Noreste substation in Cerro Viento.
Juan Aguilar, an official with Cable & Wireless Panama, said that the thefts have declined in recent months, but said that this has been mainly due to an increase in security by the company.
He said that the company has installed alarms and set up a hotline for people to call to report suspicious activity.
The company, which was averaging 20 cases of theft per month, saw that figure decline to 14 cases in November and four cases in December. Last year, the theft of cable cost the company $500,000.
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