Acerías Paz del Río S.A.

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What it is

Acerías Paz del Río traces its history to 1948, when it was founded as the “Empresa Siderúrgica Nacional de Paz de Río”; it adopted its current name in 1957 and has since dedicated itself to the exploration, extraction, and transformation of limestone, coal, and iron ore into steel products and derivatives.

Today it produces more than 30% of Colombia’s total steel output — its activities span the full chain from raw-material extraction to the manufacture of drawn rods, corrugated bars and rolls, laminated sheets, angle profiles, coils, and metallurgical coke, as well as by-products such as coal tar and ammonium sulphate.

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Who owns it

In 2022, Grupo Trinity Capital acquired 67% of the company’s shares, wresting control from Brazil’s Votorantim, which had held the stake since 2007. The principal shareholders are Grupo Trinity and Structure Banca de Inversión, followed by the regional development agency Instituto de Fomento y Desarrollo de Boyacá and minority shareholders.

Acerías Paz del Río operates as a subsidiary of Trinity Capital SAS. The precise free-float percentage is not disclosed in available sources.

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Who runs it

Pedro Blanco Santos was appointed CEO following an evaluation process by the board of directors; he had spent the preceding two years leading the supply-chain vice-presidency, where he drove improvements in operational efficiency. He came to Paz del Río in March 2024 after more than 30 years at Grupo Nutresa, including the general management of Galletas Noel.

His predecessor as CEO, Fabio Galán Sánchez, moved to the board of directors as part of the leadership transition. Omar González Pardo chairs the board of directors.

The board also includes Iván Trujillo, CEO of Grupo Trinity, and Felipe Bayón, former president of Ecopetrol, who joined in March 2024.

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The money, in plain words

In the full year ended 31 December 2024, the company recorded revenue of COP 1,429,031 million (≈ USD 414.2 million), down from COP 1,527,802 million (US$443 mn) in 2023 — a decline of about 6.5% (our calculation). The company lost roughly COP 54,914 million (≈ USD 15.9 million) for the year, a net margin of –3.8% (our calculation).

Management confirmed a positive operating cash-generation figure of COP 93,623 million (US$27 mn) for 2024 — the business produced cash from its operations — but the net loss of COP 54,914 million (US$16 mn) was driven mainly by predatory-priced steel imports, lower production volumes, and COP 52,837 million (US$15 mn) in interest payments on internal loans, leaving no room for a dividend.

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What it is doing now

On 18 October 2024, Colombia’s government enacted Decree 1294, imposing a 30% safeguard tariff on imported steel as a market-protection measure, with an immediate positive effect on the company’s results. The tariff directly targets the low-priced imports that had compressed margins for three consecutive years.

The company is also working through a financial restructuring, having renegotiated approximately COP 350,000 million (≈ USD 101.4 million) in financial obligations with creditors to ease liquidity pressure and strengthen its balance sheet.

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What to watch

• Tariff durability: the 30% safeguard is a time-limited measure; whether the Colombian government extends it will determine how quickly margins recover.
• Debt restructuring execution: the company’s equity had already eroded to COP 911,972 million (US$264 mn) by 30 September 2025, from COP 956,141 million (US$277 mn) at end-2024, reflecting the drag of recurring losses. Successful debt renegotiation is therefore critical to financial stability.
• New CEO’s operational reset: the leadership change came amid continued financial deterioration — in Q3 2025 revenue rose to COP 344,188 million (US$100 mn) from COP 325,804 million (US$94 mn) a year earlier, yet the net loss widened to COP 21,428 million (US$6 mn) from COP 14,084 million (US$4 mn), hit by higher financial and operating costs.
• Steel-market pricing: analysts note that results reflect a highly competitive Colombian steel market marked by pressure from steel imports and rising input costs.

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This is news, not investment advice.