Madeco is an industrial company with an important presence in Chile, Brazil, Peru and Argentina. Its productive activities are concentrated in four main areas: copper and aluminum cables; brass mill products; flexible packaging and aluminum profiles.

The regional growth strategy employed by Madeco in its development stage - when it invested in production in Chile, and in corporate acquisitions abroad - was based on using economies of scale in production, marketing and access to primary resources. This has allowed Madeco to become one of the leading producers in the region.

Madeco commands a competitive position in the cable business in Chile, Peru and Brazil. In Argentina, Decker-Indelqui has partially reopened its brass mill and foundry operation - after a temporary shutdown in 2002 - in the hope of an important recovery in domestic demand.

Madeco is currently focused on a long range performance plan, involving an industrial and commercial restructuring of the parent company and its subsidiaries, aiming at improving productive and operational efficiency and also sales, affected by the stagnant investment levels in the company’s main markets, particularly Brazil and Argentina. The objective is to recover market share to historic levels and prepare the company for the challenges of a reinvigorated business environment.

It’s worth highlighting that last year Madeco strengthened considerably its financial structure, after carrying out a vital Ch$95,114 million capital increase. It also completed a financial restructuring, begun at the end of 2002, which allowed it to stabilize its solvency and reduce debt by 33% between December 2002 and 2003. Madeco also reached an agreement with its creditors to restructure about US$120 million of debt, stretching terms to seven years with a three-year grace period.

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