South American crude steel output up 3.0% in Dec '14

SPOKANE (Scrap Monster): According to the recent data published by the World Steel Association, the crude steel production by South American countries increased during the month of December last year. The total monthly output climbed higher by 3.0% to 3.589 Million tonnes.

The total crude steel production by Argentina during December was 446,000 tonnes, 2.9% higher than the December 2013 production of 434,000 tonnes. Brazil produced 2.628 Million tonnes of crude steel, slightly lower by 1.0% when compared to 2.655 Million tonnes production achieved during December 2013. The Chilean December crude steel production saw dip of 3.2% from 98,000 tonnes in December ‘13 to 95,000 tonnes in December last year. The total crude steel production by Colombia surged 120.7% to 115,000 tonnes in December 2014.

Ecuador’s crude steel production was up year-on-year. The crude steel output by Ecuador was 50,000 tonnes in December 2014, 4.1% higher from 48,000 tonnes during December 2013.  Paraguay’s crude steel output remained flat during the month.

The crude steel output by Peru went higher by 15.8% year-on-year from 95,000 tonnes to 110,000 tonnes. The crude steel output of Uruguay remained almost unchanged at 10,000 tonnes. Venezuelan production soared higher by 48.7% year-on-year from 87,000 tonnes to 130,000 tonnes.

The following table provides cumulative crude steel output for the entire year 2014 in comparison with those during 2013.

Note: Output in thousands of tonnes