Latin American finished steel output shrinks 4% during first three quarters

By Paul Ploumis (ScrapMonster Author)

November 24, 2015 07:38:03 AM

SAO PAULO (Scrap Monster): The finished steel output by the Latin American countries dropped nearly 4% during the first three quarters of the current year. This is when compared with the output during the corresponding nine-month period from January to September in 2014.

The statistics released by the Latin American Steel Association (Alacero) says that the regional finished steel output totaled 40.3 million mt during the initial nine-month period in 2015. The region’s finished steel output during Jan-Sep ’14 had totaled 42.0 million mt.

The key finished steel producer in the region was Brazil. The country accounted for 43% of the total regional production. The finished steel output by Brazil during Jan-Sep ’15 totaled 17.4 million mt. The second biggest producer was Mexico with 13.2 million mt. The Mexican output accounted for 33% of the regional total.

The Latin American crude steel output between January to September this year totaled 48.3 million mt, dropping by nearly 2% when compared with the previous year. Out of this, Brazil’s crude steel production totaled 25.2 million mt, constituting 52% of the total output by the region.

The apparent steel consumption by the region witnessed 2% year-on-year decline during the first three quarters of the year totaled 52.2 million mt. The consumption by Mexico almost doubled during this period. Chile’s consumption too went higher by 7% over the previous year. On the other hand, consumption of rolled steel by Brazil declined sharply by 14% year-on-year. Peru and Colombia too recorded declines of 14% and 3% respectively.

Meantime, the imports of rolled steel products by Latin American countries jumped higher by 3% to 18.5 million mt during Jan-Sep ’15. The imports of finished steel accounted for 35% of the region’s total consumption. Also, exports from the region totaled 6.7 million mt, higher by 1% over the previous year.

The Association expects marginal drop of 2% in production of rolled steel goods during October this year. On the other hand, crude steel production may see marginal rise of 1% during the month to reach 5.9 million mt.