Why Argentina in 2026
Argentine construction as a whole is flat: INDEC's ISAC index for August 2026 was 4.4% below August 2025, and the first eight months were up only 0.8%. Duct work is concentrated in hospitals and commercial buildings in Greater Buenos Aires, data centres, the Vaca Muerta energy economy in Neuquén, and industry in Córdoba and Rosario.
Buenos Aires: hospitals, offices and retrofits
Greater Buenos Aires holds most of the country's offices, hospitals, shopping centres and public buildings, and public health is a steady client. In 2025 the city's Ministry of Health tendered central air conditioning for the inpatient floors of Hospital Durand and Pavilion 2 of Hospital Piñero, with ductwork, leakage testing and insulation specified in detail. Tenders like this reward consistent seams, flanges and sealing, which is where machines beat hand work; see our cleanroom duct guide.
Data centres
Perfil reported in October 2026 that the internet chamber CABASE counts 14 third-party data centres above 1 MW in Argentina, with about 32 MW installed in total, and that the Tengo Data registry lists 67 data centres, 18 of them in the city of Buenos Aires and 10 more in Buenos Aires province. The large projects are announced further south. Reuters reported in September 2026 that Pampa Energía is studying a site of up to 500 MW next to its Loma de la Lata plant in Neuquén, that FlexDomes plans a 120 MW first stage in Neuquén, and that construction has begun on an IT park in the Bahía Blanca free trade zone with a 30 MW first stage. Most still need investors or contracts, so treat them as leads; our data centre duct guide explains where the ductwork is.
Vaca Muerta and Neuquén
Neuquén produced an average of 658,639 barrels of oil per day in July 2026, another record, and more than 97% of it came from unconventional fields. In February 2026 the government extended the deadline to join the RIGI large investment regime to July 2027 and opened it to upstream oil and gas; in October 2026 Tecpetrol's Los Toldos II Este project, with USD 6,432 million planned over three stages, was approved under it. Oil companies need operating bases, offices, warehouses, workshops and accommodation, and local press reported more than 60,000 m² of new construction in Neuquén city in the first quarter of 2026, up 20.3% year on year. Añelo, a town of just over 10,000 permanent residents at the centre of the field, has planned developments such as Añelo Boulevard, with more than 89,000 m² and over 1,100 units. Neuquén is more than 1,000 km by road from Buenos Aires, which favours a local duct shop over trucking bulky duct.
Córdoba and Rosario
- Córdoba: the automotive cluster is the main industrial client. Stellantis announced USD 385 million in 2024 for its Ferreyra plant, which now builds pick-ups such as the Fiat Titano and Ram Dakota. Factory extensions, paint shops and supplier plants all need ventilation and process extract.
- Rosario: the Gran Rosario port complex on the Paraná shipped 75.7 million tonnes of grain, meal and oil in 2025, about 75% of Argentina's agro-industrial shipments, according to the Rosario Board of Trade. Crushing plants, terminals and food factories need dust and process extract, often in heavier gauges and round duct.
Standards and codes for ductwork in Argentina
Argentina has no national duct construction code that replaces SMACNA. Specifications combine American references for the ductwork itself with Argentine standards and regulations for buildings, health care, fire, electrics and workplace safety.
- SMACNA: the usual reference for construction. The Buenos Aires hospital specification above requires ducts built to the SMACNA HVAC Duct Construction Standards at pressure class 2 in. w.g. (500 Pa) and seal class C, leakage tested to the SMACNA Air Duct Leakage Test Manual, with galvanised hangers to SMACNA. It sets galvanised sheet No. 24/25 for ducts up to 0.70 m on the long side, No. 22 from 0.71 to 1.25 m and No. 20 above 1.26 m, plus 32 x 3.17 mm angle frames every metre on ducts with a side over 1.50 m. See our SMACNA seal classes, air leakage classes and gauge chart.
- ASHRAE, NFPA and others: a national government guideline for executive project documentation lists ASHRAE, SMACNA, NFPA, ASTM, UL and IEC alongside IRAM and the regulations of the Asociación Electrotécnica Argentina (AEA).
- IRAM: the Argentine standards body. Hospital work cites the IRAM 80400 series on air treatment in health-care buildings and IRAM 80450 on indoor air quality and outdoor air rates. Duct insulation is specified by fire reaction class under IRAM 11910; the Buenos Aires tender asks for RE2 at minimum. Our insulation guide explains the options.
- CIRSOC and INPRES-CIRSOC 103: CIRSOC publishes the national structural regulations, and INPRES-CIRSOC 103 is the seismic regulation, mandatory on national public works and adopted by most provinces. In the seismic west, such as Mendoza and San Juan, expect hanger and bracing details to be checked. See our hangers and supports guide.
- Law 19,587 and Decree 351/79: the workplace health and safety framework, cited in public specifications together with local building codes such as the Buenos Aires City Código de Edificación and the city's energy efficiency law.
Importing duct machinery into Argentina: what changed 2024 to 2026
- SIRA, then SEDI, then neither: the SIRA import licence system was scrapped in December 2023 and replaced by SEDI, a statistical import declaration created by Joint General Resolution 5466/2023. SEDI was itself abolished in February 2025 by Joint General Resolution 5651/2025. Technical requirements are no longer a barrier before import; they are checked when goods are used or sold.
- Impuesto PAIS: the tax on foreign currency purchases, last charged at 7.5% on imported goods, ended on 23 December 2024.
- Import duty: Decree 513/2025, published on 29 July 2025, cut duty on a group of capital goods, including metalworking machines such as laser cutters, folders and presses, from 20 to 35% down to 12.6%, the Mercosur common external tariff level. Duct forming machines usually fall under HS heading 8462, but the rate depends on the full NCM subheading, so ask your despachante de aduanas to classify the machine and confirm the rate. Used machinery pays more.
- Statistics fee: 3% of customs value, extended to 31 December 2027 by Decree 1140/2024, with caps by value band.
- IVA: the general rate is 21%. Article 28 of the IVA law applies half the general rate, 10.5%, to imports of capital goods listed by NCM position in a schedule annexed to the law. We could not confirm whether every duct machine subheading is on that schedule, so check your NCM with your broker. ARCA also collects advance payments (percepciones) of IVA and income tax at clearance, which are credited later.
- Electrical safety rules: on 25 February 2025 the old Resolution 169/2018 was replaced by three technical regulations; Resolution SIC 17/2025 covers motor-driven machines and tools. We could not confirm whether industrial duct forming machines fall within its scope, so ask your broker. Taokron machines are CE marked with a Declaration of Conformity and ship with electrical diagrams and component lists.
Container shipments usually arrive at the Buenos Aires terminals; tell us if Rosario, Bahía Blanca or another port suits you better. Our importing guide covers the general paperwork.
Power supply: 220/380 V, 50 Hz
Argentina's grid runs at 50 Hz, with 220 V single phase and 380 V three phase. That matches our standard build, so no frequency conversion is needed. Measure the three phase voltage at your workshop and tell us before you order; on a weak supply we can advise on motor starting for the largest machines. See also duct machine voltage and frequency by country.
Typical Argentine shop set-ups and the machines that fit
Rectangular duct shop for commercial and hospital work
Commercial and hospital specifications in Argentina, like the Buenos Aires tender above, are written around rectangular galvanised duct, and this is where automation pays first. Start with a coil-fed line: the Rectangular Duct Line II SBAL-II handles 0.5 to 2.0 mm sheet at 1250 or 1550 mm width, and the Auto Duct Line SBAL-III adds two electrical feeding units with hydraulic notching and shearing. The sheet gauges No. 24 to No. 20 in the Buenos Aires hospital specification sit well inside their range.
Around the line, a Pittsburgh lockformer (SBLC series) forms the longitudinal seams, a TDF flange forming machine SBTDF rolls the transverse flanges, and the Duct Zipper SBHF-1.5×1500TDF closes seams with PLC control on 0.8 to 1.5 mm plate. Add the auto corner making machine and pneumatic corner mounting machine for TDF corners, a pneumatic folder for fittings, and a Plasma Cutter SBPC1550 to cut elbows, transitions and offsets from nested drawings. Our TDF vs angle flange guide helps when a specification asks for angle frames on large ducts.
Volume shop for data centres and large projects
Shops bidding for data centres, hospitals and large commercial packages need repeatable output. The Auto Duct Line SBAL-V is a U-shape line for TDF, angle flange and drive cleat duct, and a hydraulic folder takes heavier gauges and long bends. See our auto duct line ROI analysis.
Neuquén and regional shops
A shop in Neuquén or near Añelo needs a compact set it can staff easily: a Rectangular Duct Line II or SBAL-III, a lockformer, a TDF flange former and a folder covers offices, workshops, camps and warehouses.
Round duct and industrial extract
Spiral duct suits warehouses, car parks, exposed ceilings and the industrial extract common around Rosario and Córdoba. The Spiral Tubeformer SBTF-1500 or SBTF-1602 forms round duct, the Spiral Duct Flanging Machine SBFB-1600 turns flanges on duct ends, and the Automatic Stitchwelder SB-ZF1500 covers welded seams in heavier sheet. For a real example, see Kavanagh Industries in Sydney, which added an SBTF-1602 in October 2026.
Labour and space
In metalworking, pay scales come from the UOM collective agreement CCT 260/75; the unions and employer chambers signed a new agreement for April 2026 to March 2027. The national minimum wage is ARS 391,200 a month from 1 October 2026 under Resolution 4/2026, rising monthly to ARS 437,000 in April 2027. Check which agreement covers your staff. An auto duct line replaces much of the manual marking, cutting, notching and folding, so a small crew can supply several sites.
On space, the auto duct line is the longest item, with coil racks at one end and a run-out table at the other. Ask us for a layout drawing based on your building before you sign a lease, and leave room for coil deliveries, finished duct storage and truck loading. In Añelo, housing for workers is short, so plan staff accommodation before you plan the shop. Our factory layout guide has worked examples.
Working with Taokron from Argentina
- Machines built since 1994 and supplied to 100+ countries, with 60+ patents, from an ISO 9001:2015 factory
- CE marked with a Declaration of Conformity
- Wired for your 380 V three phase 50 Hz supply
- Installation and commissioning quoted per engineer-day
- Replies within 12 hours by email at [email protected] or on WhatsApp at +61 435 074 994
Get an Argentina-ready Taokron quotation →
FAQ
Which ductwork standards are used in Argentina?
There is no Argentine duct construction code that replaces SMACNA. Specifications in Argentina usually call for sheet metal ductwork built to the SMACNA HVAC Duct Construction Standards, with a pressure class, a seal class and leakage testing to the SMACNA Air Duct Leakage Test Manual; a 2025 Buenos Aires hospital tender, for example, asks for 2 in. w.g. (500 Pa) and seal class C. ASHRAE and NFPA are cited for design and fire, and Argentine documents sit around them: IRAM standards such as the IRAM 80400 series for health-care air treatment and IRAM 11910 for the fire reaction of insulation, the INPRES-CIRSOC 103 seismic regulation, Law 19,587 and Decree 351/79 on workplace safety, AEA electrical regulations and local building codes. Always build to the documents named in the project specification.
What voltage and frequency do duct machines need in Argentina?
Argentina's grid runs at 50 Hz, with 220 V single phase and 380 V three phase. That matches the standard Taokron build, so no frequency conversion is needed. Measure the three phase voltage at your workshop and tell us, and we confirm the motors, drives and control transformer before the machine ships.
What taxes apply when importing duct machinery into Argentina?
Expect import duty for the exact NCM subheading, the 3% statistics fee, which runs to 31 December 2027 with caps by value band, and IVA. Decree 513/2025 cut duty on a group of capital goods, including metalworking machines such as folders and presses, from 20 to 35% to 12.6%, but duct machines must be classified one by one, so ask your despachante de aduanas for the rate. IVA is 21% in general and 10.5% for capital goods listed in the schedule annexed to article 28 of the IVA law; check whether your machine's NCM is on it. ARCA also collects advance payments of IVA and income tax at clearance, which are credited later. The Impuesto PAIS ended on 23 December 2024.
Do I still need a SIRA or SEDI approval to import a machine?
No. The SIRA system was scrapped in December 2023 and replaced by SEDI, a statistical import declaration created by Joint General Resolution 5466/2023. SEDI was abolished in February 2025 by Joint General Resolution 5651/2025. Technical requirements are now checked when goods are used or sold rather than before import. Ask your broker whether any electrical safety regulation, such as Resolution SIC 17/2025 for motor-driven machines and tools, applies to your machine. Taokron machines are CE marked with a Declaration of Conformity and come with electrical diagrams and component lists.
Where is ductwork demand in Argentina coming from in 2026?
The main sources are hospitals, offices and retrofits in Greater Buenos Aires; data centres, from existing sites in Buenos Aires to large projects proposed in Neuquén and an IT park under construction in Bahía Blanca; energy-sector bases, offices, warehouses and accommodation around Vaca Muerta in Neuquén; and industrial work in Córdoba's automotive cluster and Rosario's agro-industrial port complex.
Which machines should a new Argentine duct shop start with?
A shop making rectangular duct for commercial and hospital work usually starts with a rectangular duct line or auto duct line, a Pittsburgh lockformer, a TDF flange former and a folder, then adds a duct zipper, corner machines and a plasma table as volume grows. Add a spiral tubeformer when round duct and industrial extract become regular work. Send your duct sizes, gauges and monthly output and a Taokron engineer will propose a machine set within 12 hours.
