Chile’s Top 6 Leading Wire Manufacturers

Established 1988  •  7 Specialized Factories  •  100+ Countries Served  •  BSCI Certified

In September 2024, Chile’s only steel mill went dark for good. Huachipato, run by CAP for 74 years, shut its blast furnace after losing the fight against cheap Chinese steel imports — even with anti-dumping tariffs in place. What’s easy to miss is that Chile’s largest wire manufacturer, Inchalam, has operated on land CAP itself provided decades earlier in Talcahuano, historically drawing on Huachipato as a neighbor and raw material source. That neighbor is gone now. Not every part of Chile’s steel story ended the same way, though: Aceros AZA, a separate scrap-based steel producer, was sold back into full Chilean ownership in 2018 and continues supplying wire rod today. Here’s how Chile’s wire manufacturers compare, and what the Huachipato closure means for sourcing going forward.

At a Glance

Chilean Wire Manufacturers

1. Inchalam

Base: Talcahuano, Biobío Region  |  History: over 70 years

Industrias Chilenas de Alambre (Inchalam) was founded to supply Chile’s domestic market with basic wire products, and later relocated to land in Talcahuano provided by CAP (Compañía de Aceros del Pacífico) as part of a commercial exchange agreement — placing it right alongside the Huachipato steel complex. Belgium’s Bekaert, the world’s largest wire producer, later joined as a shareholder, giving Inchalam a major infrastructure and technology boost. Today Inchalam describes itself as Chile’s leading wire manufacturer, producing everything from fine 0.27mm patented wire to agricultural fencing, mattress spring wire, and wine-industry bins, and holds an EcoVadis Gold sustainability rating.

2. Aceros AZA

Founded: 1953–54, as Metalúrgicas AZA  |  Base: Colina and Renca, Santiago

AZA began producing horseshoes and roofing hooks in 1954, was acquired by Brazil’s Gerdau in 1992 and renamed Gerdau AZA, then sold in 2018 to a consortium of Chilean investors who reverted the company to its original name. Aceros AZA now produces roughly 520,000 tonnes a year of steel from 100% recycled scrap via electric arc furnace, including wire rod (alambrón), rebar, and profiles, and has been recognized by WorldSteel as among the lowest-carbon steel producers globally.

3. RGM Mallas de Alambre

Base: Maipú, Santiago, with branches in Curicó, Chillán, and Temuco  |  Certification: ISO 9001:2008

RGM has manufactured and sold wire mesh and derived products for decades, historically importing certain products from Colombia, Italy, Venezuela, Korea, and China to cover domestic gaps before expanding its own weaving capacity, and later forming a joint venture with Argentina’s Acindar to strengthen its position in the Chilean wire market.

4. Mallas Dorstener Chile (MDC)

Founded: Operating in Chile for 20+ years, formerly Reysan S.A.  |  Base: Pudahuel, Santiago

MDC manufactures woven wire mesh in carbon, stainless, and galvanized steel for mining, food, agricultural, fishing, and construction sorting and classification applications, backed by Germany’s Dorstener Drahtwerke, a wire weaving group with over 100 years of global experience.

5. INTAL

Base: Antofagasta 3276, Santiago Centro  |  History: over 40 years

INTAL manufactures and distributes a wide catalog of woven and welded wire mesh — from knotted field fencing to fine stainless and galvanized mesh — serving construction, industrial security, livestock, and small mining customers.

6. Yongwei

Founded: 1988  |  Type: OEM/ODM manufacturer  |  Reach: 100+ countries  |  Certification: BSCI-certified, EU market access

Yongwei is a China-based OEM/ODM iron wire manufacturer operating seven specialized factories, supplying customers in more than 100 countries. It produces to the buyer’s specification, covering galvanized wire, PVC-coated wire, wire mesh, and barbed wire, with BSCI-certified, audited production suited to bulk import orders in markets where domestic wire rod supply has become more constrained.

What Huachipato’s Closure Actually Means for Wire Buyers

Huachipato’s closure wasn’t a slow decline — CAP reported roughly $412 million in losses in just the first half of 2024, tried anti-dumping tariffs of up to 33.5% on Chinese steel products, and still shut the furnace down permanently that September after 74 years, citing losses it described as impossible to reverse. That leaves a real gap for wire manufacturers that historically sat close to Chile’s own blast-furnace steel supply, Inchalam among them. It doesn’t mean Chile has no domestic wire rod at all — Aceros AZA’s scrap-based electric arc furnace model kept running and expanding through the same period Huachipato was failing, which is worth noting on its own: not every production model in the same industry faced the same fate. But between one domestic wire rod producer and a market that increasingly reflects global steel pricing either way, import sourcing has become a more central part of how Chile’s wire manufacturers and distributors keep their production running.

Sourcing Wire Through an OEM Partner

If your buyers need standard galvanized or woven wire mesh, Chile’s established manufacturers cover that ground directly. If you’re a distributor or brand owner who needs a specific coating, gauge, or private-label packaging at bulk volume, an OEM/ODM partner works from your exact spec rather than a fixed catalog — a more relevant option now than it might have been before Huachipato’s closure, given that even Chile’s own manufacturers are more exposed to import pricing and supply than they were with a domestic blast furnace next door.

FAQ

What standard applies to wire mesh and reinforcement wire used in Chile?
Wire products used in Chilean construction are generally expected to meet NCh 204 (reinforcement steel) or NCh 218 (construction mesh), standards set by Chile’s Instituto Nacional de Normalización (INN). Buyers sourcing from any manufacturer, domestic or OEM, should confirm the product is built to the relevant specification.

Does Chile still produce its own steel and wire rod?
Partially. CAP’s Huachipato plant, Chile’s only integrated blast-furnace steelmaker, permanently closed in September 2024 due to Chinese import competition. Aceros AZA, a separate scrap-based electric arc furnace producer, continues operating and remains a domestic source of wire rod, rebar, and profiles.

Is it better to source wire from a Chilean manufacturer or import from an OEM partner?
It depends on the product and volume. Chile’s established manufacturers remain the direct route for standard mesh and fencing wire sold domestically. For distributors and importers needing reliable bulk volume, custom specifications, or private-label branding, an OEM/ODM partner is increasingly practical given Chile’s narrower domestic wire rod base since Huachipato’s closure.

Conclusion

Chile’s wire industry sits at an interesting split: established manufacturers like Inchalam, RGM, MDC, and INTAL continue serving the domestic market, one domestic wire rod producer (Aceros AZA) kept running through the same period the country’s only blast furnace shut down for good, and OEM sourcing has become a more central part of how the market fills the resulting gap. If you’re sourcing standard wire products, the manufacturers above are worth comparing directly. If you’re a distributor or brand owner needing a custom or private-label wire product line, an OEM/ODM partner is generally the more direct path.