Los grupos económicos argentinos y la respuesta frente al arribo de las empresas multinacionales en la década de 1990. El caso de Madanes en la producción de aluminio

Abstract

The Madanes business group has been the only primary aluminum producer in Argentina for decades. At the beginning of 1990s several factors such as the deep economic instability of Argentine economy, the trade
openness, the fall of the world market and the possibility of ending the State subsidy in the energy sector, posed important challenges for the company. However, unlike other business groups, which sold their  enterprises to foreign capital, Madanes became one of the leading exporters of industrial manufactures in Argentina. The hypothesis of the present article argues that its business success was based on strategy that aim to (1) increased exports, (2) grow through vertical integration, and (3) diversified products and markets associated with its main activity. Moreover, its participation in the privatization process was central to this strategy as it allowed to control the supply of energy, one of its main inputs.