One of the major companies in the Aiaraldea region, Tubacex, has raised concerns about potential measures it might take due to the impact of the crisis surrounding the Strait of Hormuz on its orders. This situation follows the ERE presented by Tubos Reunidos, affecting 240 workers at its plants in Amurrio and Trapagaran.

According to a trade union, during Tuesday's meeting between management and the committee, within the framework of new collective bargaining agreement negotiations, the company “put on the table the threat of a possible temporary employment regulation file (ERTE), citing uncertainty and a decrease in workload.” Company sources do not explicitly mention an ERTE but indicate that the employee representatives were informed that if the situation caused by the Iran war and the Hormuz blockade – with a direct impact on the oil and gas business – and the resulting drop in orders does not improve in a few weeks, the company plans some temporary adjustments.

Market uncertainty is evident. According to foreign trade data up to February published by Eustat, Alava's exports of seamless iron or steel tubes and hollow profiles fell by 78.3% in the first two months of the year compared to the same period in 2025. This sector had already been severely affected by the tariff deployment of the Trump administration, which led to a cooling of market investment decisions.

The Laudio-based company closed 2025 with a net profit of 15.9 million euros, 30.5% less than the previous year. On Thursday, the 23rd, it will present its first-quarter results, and experts anticipate they will reflect the impact of the conflict in Iran, with sales drops of around 17%, according to a financial analysis.

Tubacex's presence in the USA, with several production plants and integration into the value chain, as well as its commitment to high value-added products and diversification of its order book, allowed it to weather the tariff onslaught in 2025 with some ease. However, the crisis around the Persian Gulf now adds to this, directly affecting one of Tubacex's major projects: its new plant in Abu Dhabi, already 100% operational, and the ten-year mega-contract with ADNOC – the Emirati consortium Abu Dhabi National Oil Company – for the integral supply of CRA OCTG solutions for gas extraction. This impact is in addition to the logical effect on logistics, affected by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

The trade union's interpretation, however, is different. The company is engaged in lengthy negotiations to renew its collective bargaining agreement, which in recent months has been marked by several partial strikes at the Laudio and Amurrio plants. Management presented a final proposal to the committee, for which it expects a response at a future meeting. A trade union denounced “pressure, fear, and haste to impose a low-wage agreement” through a proposal that, it criticized, “aims to sell economic improvements that, in reality, do not compensate for the accumulated loss of purchasing power in recent years.”