Chilean Steel production index declines 8 percent y/y in March

CHILE May 09 2017 3:40 PM
SANTIAGO (Scrap Register): Steel production index of Chile during March has declined to about 8 percent when compared to same period a year ago, but when compared compared to February it is 6.7 percent higher, as per Chile's National Institute of Statistics (INE).

INE measures steel production through an index that includes operating blast furnaces, converters and rolling mills, as well as production of pig iron, ingots, ferroalloys and finished steel products such as angles, sections and bars. The institute does not publicly quantify actual production volumes, only percentage changes.

According to the World Steel Association, Chilean steel production during March declined 4.8 percent to 100000 tons when compared to 105000 tons in a year ago period, but when compared to February it had an increase of 9.9 percent from 91000 tons.

Chilean steel production index s part of INE's manufacturing index, which increased 1.9% year on year in March, and jumped 21.3% from February.

The manufacturing index plays an important role as it is an important part of the three components of Chile's overall industrial index, which declined 8.3% year on year and fell 3% month on month in March.