By Paul Ploumis

SPOKANE (Scrap Monster): According to the recent data published by the World Steel Association, the crude steel production by South American countries increased by 10% during the month of May this year. This is significantly lower when compared with the output growth rate of 22% recorded during the previous month. The monthly output totaled 3.691 Million tonnes (Mt) in May ‘17. Meantime, the North American crude steel output remained essentially flat during the month.

The total crude steel production by Argentina during May this year was 394,000 tonnes, higher by 3.9% than the May 2016 production of 379,000 tonnes. Brazil produced 2.931 Million tonnes of crude steel, significantly higher by 13.2% when compared to 2.590 Million tonnes production achieved during May last year. The output by Chile declined sharply by more than 8% to 95,000 tonnes in May this year. Meantime, total crude steel production by Colombia increased marginally by 2.7% to total 110,000 tonnes.

Ecuador’s crude steel output has dropped modestly by nearly 7.4% on year-on-year basis. The crude steel output by Ecuador was 45,000 tonnes in May this year, down when compared with 49,000 tonnes during May last year.  Paraguay’s crude steel output tumbled by over 63% from 3,000 tonnes to 1,000 tonnes over the previous year.

The crude steel output by Peru reported marginal increase of 0.7% year-on-year. The crude steel output of Uruguay too increased by 3.2% when compared with the year before levels. On the other hand, Venezuelan production declined sharply by nearly 36% year-on-year from 16,000 tonnes to 10,000 tonnes.

The cumulative crude steel output by South American countries totaled 17.690 Mt during Jan-May ’17, which is 11.3% higher when matched with the output of 15.892 Mt during the corresponding five-month period in 2016. The following table provides cumulative crude steel output by the South American countries for the initial five-month period of year 2017 in comparison with the previous year.

Note: Output in thousands of tonnes

Meantime, the crude steel production by North American countries remained more or less flat during the month of May year-on-year. The production totaled 9.760 Mt in May this year as against 9.758 Mt recorded in May ‘16.

The total crude steel production by Canada during May this year was 1.080 Mt, up marginally by 0.3% when compared with the May 2016 production. The US produced 6.995 Mt of crude steel, slightly higher by 0.2% when compared to 6.979 Mt production achieved during May last year. The total crude steel production by Mexico declined by nearly 1% from 1.646 Mt in May ‘16 to 1.630 Mt in May this year.

The Cuban crude steel production increased slightly by less than 1% year-on-year to 20,000 tonnes. The crude steel output by El Salvador was estimated at 10,000 tonnes in May this year, rising sharply by 17% when compared with May last year. Guatemala produced 25,000 tonnes in May, falling from 27,000 tonnes production during the same month a year before. Trinidad & Tobago reported nil output during the month.

The combined crude steel output by the region during the first five months of 2017 totaled 48.057 Mt as compared with 46.396 Mt a year before. The following table provides the region’s cumulative crude steel output for the first five months of 2017 in comparison with those during the corresponding period in 2016.

Note: Output in thousands of tonnes