Latin American Finished Steel Production Surged 7%

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The Latin American steel industry maintained a positive performance during the first three months of the current year. The statistics published by the Latin American Steel Association (Alacero) indicates that the consumption and production of finished steel surged higher by 3% and 7% respectively. Meanwhile, the region’s crude steel output was up by 5% during Q1 ’18, when compared with the corresponding quarter in 2017.Also, exports recorded 9% jump over the previous year.

The crude steel production by the LatAm region totaled 16.4 million tons (Mt) during the first quarter of 2018, higher by 5% when compared with the production of 15.6 Mt in Q1 last year. Brazil continued to remain as the largest regional producer. The country’s production totaled 8.6 Mt, accounting for 53% of the total regional production.

The finished steel production surged higher by 7% year-on-year to touch 13.8 Mt in January-March this year. The largest producer was Brazil with output of 5.8 Mt, representing 42% of the regional output. Mexico, with 4.9 Mt, was the second largest producer. The country accounted for 35% share of regional output during the quarter.

The finished steel consumption by the Latin American region totaled 16.8 Mt during the first three months of the year, higher by 3% over the previous year. The consumption had totaled 16.4 Mt in Jan-Mar ‘17. In percentage terms, Panama and Argentina recorded 42% and 33% jump in consumption. The Brazilian finished steel consumption surged higher by 10%. On the other hand, Uruguay and Venezuela reported decline in consumption of finished steel by 34% and 17% respectively. The consumption by Guatemala too declined by 13%, Alacero noted.

The Alacero data also indicates that the region imported 5.2 Mt of finished steel in the first quarter of this year. The imports fell sharply by 6% over the prior year. Imports accounted for nearly 31% of the regional finished steel consumption. Meantime, finished steel exports soared by 9% to 2.5 Mt. The region recorded a finished steel trade deficit of 2.7 Mt during Q1 2018.