Latin American Imports of Chinese Steel Collapsed 50% in January

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The Latin American imports of steel from China dropped sharply during the first month of the current year. The region received 412,000 tons of Chinese steel, significantly lower by 50% when compared with the imports of 822,000 tons in January last year. Out of this, 362,000 tons were finished steel and the remaining 50,000 tons were steel-derivative products.

The exports of Chinese steel to world countries totaled 4.4 million tonnes (Mt). Out of this, Latin America accounted for 9% of total global exports. The region’s share of exports has dropped by 2 percentage points from 11% in January 2017. The region emerged as the second preferred destination of Chinese steel exports, after South Korea with 13% share.

According to Alacero, China is likely to export more of its steel to Latin American countries, especially after the US imposing 25% tariff on imported steel. The trade association fears that the US tariff decision may result in diversion of trade to the region. It called upon governments to remain alert to chances of sudden and unexpected rise in imports.

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The key destination of Chinese steel exports in the Latin American region was Brazil. The Brazilian imports totaled 111,000 tons, accounting for 27% of the regional imports. Brazil recorded 43% year-on-year jump in imports of Chinese steel in January 2018. The other top importers in the region were Peru (68,000 tons) and Chile (59,000 tons). The countries to report sharpest declines in import volumes of Chinese steel were Venezuela (-98%), Cuba (-96%) and Argentina (-80%).

By products, flat steel accounted for 63% of total imports. The key flat steel products imported by the region include hot dipped galvanized sheet (26% share), other alloyed sheets and coils (23% share) and cold rolled coil (20%). Long steel constituted 26% of the total imports, whereas the remaining 1% of the imports was seamless pipes.