Latin American steel association, Alacero, has announced that the 59th edition of the Latin American Steel Congress began on Tuesday, November 6, in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia. About 400 leaders and representatives of the global value chain will be discussing sustainability and competitiveness of the sector, new realities in global and regional trade and other major challenges facing the steel industry.
According to the president of Alacero, Jefferson de Paula, Latin America is heading for a second year of recovery, despite the scenario of uncertainties that especially dominated countries in the region such as Argentina, Brazil and Mexico during the first half of the year. “These circumstances, coupled with the volatility of financial markets, exchange rate variations and increasing global protectionism, have led to slower economic activity in the region,” says De Paula.
For the next year, Alacero expects that the continent will continue on the path of growth depending on the implementation of economic agendas that transform the industry at a time of beginning of new governments in Mexico and Brazil, in addition to the presidential elections in Argentina.
Despite the extremely challenging scenario with the expansion of protectionist measures worldwide and the uncertainties in the political and economic scenarios of several countries in the region, crude steel production in Latin America is expected to reach 66.3 million mt in the current year, an increase of 3.2 percent over the last year. Regarding the demand for rolled steel, Latin America should expect a growth of 1.3 percent this year compared to 2017, reaching 68.5 million mt. Hot rolled production is expected to reach 52.8 million mt, an increase of 3.2 percent over last year, according to Alacero.