At 25, Acesco Puerto Rico Bets on Making More in Bayamón, From Steel Framing to Solar Components

See the other story in this 2-part series here.

Acesco Puerto Rico, the Bayamón steel fabricator that began 25 years ago with two pipe mills, has expanded its plant to serve solar projects and a broader range of construction products, and says it will keep investing in manufacturing on the island.

The company marked its 25th anniversary on Nov. 4 with clients, suppliers, business partners and employees at the Sheraton Puerto Rico Hotel in the Convention District, under the theme “25 Years Building Together the Development of Puerto Rico,” according to a Nov. 5 announcement.

“Staying 25 years in Puerto Rico has meant reinvesting and adapting our operation to what the market needs,” said Carlos Rodríguez Lopera, general manager of Acesco Puerto Rico. “We want our customers to have more solutions made here and the backing of a company that knows the island and is betting on its development.”

The announcement is the second half of a story CB began with Maderera Donestevez, the 65-year-old Carolina distributor investing more than $3 million in its stores and showroom. Donestevez is betting on selling construction materials. Acesco is betting on making them, and on a new customer, solar developers, while both operate in the same stalled economy.

Read together, the two stories in this series describe the same wager from different positions on the supply chain. One, a distributor that can adjust its inventory if demand softens, the other a manufacturer (Acesco) that commits capital to machines and warehouses that pay off with sustained volume.

From two pipe mills to roofing and framing

The operation dates to the late 1990s, when local investors combined Bayamón Steel and Platt Metal at the Luchetti industrial area in Bayamón. Two pipe mills shared the space with production of corrugated and galvanized sheet. In 2001, a strategic alliance with Grupo Acesco opened a new stage of growth, the company said.

Track & Studs equipment and the acquisition of Matcorp widened the plant’s production of steel profiles and metal roofing. Today the company makes Rooftek, Purlins, Metaldeck and steel tubing, and it also sells wire mesh, stainless steel and CL Ward products for air-conditioning ductwork. Those lines reach contractors and customers across the economy through distributors and hardware stores, the company said.

Several of the product names are trade shorthand. Track & Studs are light-gauge steel framing members used to build interior walls and partitions. Purlins are the horizontal members that support a metal roof, and Metaldeck is corrugated steel decking used for roofs and floors. Wire mesh and chain-link, which the company has also added to its production, serve fencing and security applications.

“Trust is earned with every delivery and with how we respond when a customer needs us,” said Nelson Narváez, commercial manager of Acesco Puerto Rico. “The respect and credibility we have built with our distributors are the result of that everyday relationship.”

The local operation is backed by a business group with more than five decades of experience in steel and a presence in Latin America and the Caribbean, according to the company.

Capacity built for solar and new product lines

Over the past three years, Acesco expanded the perforation capacity of its steel profiles to serve solar projects and other applications and added two chain-link fence machines and a continuous corrugation line.

It also installed an additional Track & Studs machine and a new warehouse for loading and storage, which the company said widen its product range and support customer service. Perforated steel profiles are commonly used in the racking that holds solar panels in place, which is why the expansion matters for a company chasing energy projects.

The plant is also generating some of its own power. Acesco installed a system of 588 solar panels with a capacity of 270 kilowatts of direct current in Bayamón, which the company says meets its operating needs.

The company is considering manufacturing and supplying components for a solar project in Hatillo. Management said Acesco would use steel cast and poured in the United States and formed in Puerto Rico, an arrangement it described as an opportunity to widen the contribution of Puerto Rican manufacturing to the island’s energy infrastructure.

“Our bet is to keep investing here, to expand what we can manufacture and to contribute to the projects Puerto Rico needs,” Rodríguez Lopera said. “We have a legacy that unites us and a future we continue building together.”

A market with tailwinds and cost pressure

The materials market Acesco sells into has been getting more expensive. The United States doubled its tariff on steel and aluminum imports to 50% in 2025, and published reports on Puerto Rico’s construction price index showed prices up 4.2% in August 2025 from a year earlier, with metals, wood and cement among the materials rising 3% to 7% in recent monthly readings.

A plant that forms steel locally from U.S.-made metal may be less exposed to tariffs on foreign steel than an importer of finished products, though the company has not said how the tariffs affect its costs.

Demand is mixed. As CB reported on Nov. 4, the construction industry generated nearly $8 billion in 2025, up 5.6%, and construction employment reached 39,900 jobs in July, but cement sales grew only 1.2% in fiscal 2026.

Forecasts for the broader economy range from a 1.4% contraction in real GNP in fiscal 2027, projected by Estudios Técnicos, to 0.3% growth in real GDP in 2027, projected by Moody’s Analytics.

V2A Consulting describes an economy that is “effectively stalled” and says commercial electricity prices are up 31% since 2019, a cost that weighs on an energy-intensive manufacturer like Acesco.

The Puerto Rico Builders Association has said the housing shortfall exceeds 5,000 units, and the Financial Oversight and Management Board reports that about $56.2 billion in federal reconstruction money remains available, work that calls for framing, decking and roofing as well as solar components.

Meanwhile, the island’s energy transformation, which includes a historic boost to rooftop and utility-scale solar, has also slowed, though projects continue emerging, and industry leaders do point to signs of a rebound.

Read together, the two stories in this series describe the same wager from different positions on the supply chain. A distributor like Donestevez can adjust its inventory if demand softens, while a manufacturer like Acesco commits capital to machines and warehouses that pay off only with sustained volume.