Modernization of AHMSA, an iron and steel company located in Monclova, in the State of Coahuila, and its impact on population

Abstract

In the mid-1970s, the industrialized countries had experienced a series of modifications in their patterns of consumption; to some extent, this situation came to favor the world steel crisis occurring at that time. Meanwhile, AJtos Hornos de México, S.A. (AHMSA)was producing for domestic consumption, the demand for which was not being met.

As of the economic crisis of 1982, Mexico began to witness a series of structural changes in its socioeconomic policies which came to have repercussions on AHMSA. During those troubled times, AHMSA was forced to modernize in order to ensure its survival. And although this process was indispensable for the firm, it came to have an effect on Monclova, a city whose economic and social life revolves around the iron and steel industry.

This study examines the modernization process of the firm in question, as well as its impact on the inhabitants of Monclova. Starting with a description of the most salient features of the country's economic crisis as affecting AHMSA, it then goes on to offer an overview of industrial reconversion and its effect on the labor force.