Latin American imports of Chinese steel rise 35% in January

By Paul Ploumis

SPOKANE (Scrap Monster): The latest trade statistics released by the Latin American Steel Association (Alacero) indicates that imports of finished steel by the region totaled 882,000 tons during the month of January this year.

As per data, China exported 7.2 million tonnes of finished steel and steel-derivative products to the entire world during the first month of the current year. Out of this 882,000 tons were shipped to Latin American countries. Imports of finished steel products totaled 749,000 tons, whereas steel-derivatives products accounted for 73,000 tons. The total imports of Chinese steel by the region surged higher by 35% when matched with 609,000 during same month a year before. The region’s imports had comprised of 546,000 tons of finished steel products and 63,000 tons of steel-derivatives products in January 2016. Month-over-month, the imports of Chinese steel have recorded 29% jump. Latin America’s imports of Chinese steel had totaled 636,000 tons in December 2016.

The region’s share of Chinese steel exports reached 11.4% during the month, significantly higher when compared with 6.4% share in January last year. The region emerged as the third preferred destination of Chinese steel exports. South Korea with 16.1% share of total Chinese exports was the largest importer. The imports by the country totaled 1.1 million mt. The second largest destination of Chinese exports was Vietnam. The country’s imports of Chinese steel totaled 922,000 tons in January this year.

The Chinese steel export volume totaled 7.2 million tons in January this year. Out of this, finished steel exports totaled 6.6 million tons and the balance 551,000 tons accounted for steel-derivatives products. The steel exports by the country were down sharply by 24% when matched with the previous year. The Chinese monthly steel exports had totaled 9.47 million tons in January 2016.

The Central American region received 173,000 tonnes of Chinese steel during the month, accounting for 21% of the regional imput. The other key importers were Chile (156,000 tonnes, 19% share), followed by Peru (107,000 tonnes, 13% share). The Central American region recorded highest increase in imports over the previous year. The imports by the region surged higher by 81%. The other countries to report rise in imports of Chinese steel were Peru (+64%), Ecuador (+46%), Brazil (+38%) and Chile (+28%). On the other hand, Venezuela’s imports plunged sharply by 46% over the previous year. The imports by Colombia and Mexico too declined by 16% and 10% respectively.

Flat products accounted for 63% of the total imports of finished steel and steel-derivative products from China. The Latin American imports of flat products totaled 518,000 tonnes during the month. The major flat steel products imported during the period were other alloyed steel sheets and coils (162,000 tonnes, 31% share), hot-dipped galvanized sheet (120,000 tonnes, 23% share), and cold rolled coil (73,000 tonnes, 14% share).

Long steel imports totaled 211,000 tonnes in Jan ’17. The key long steel product imported by the region from China was wire rods. The imports of wire rods totaled 92,000 tonnes, accounting for 44% of the total long steel imports by the region. The imports of bars totaled 89,000 tonnes with 42% long steel market share. The region imported 20,000 tonnes of seamless pipes during the month.