Latin American steel industry growth expectations revised down

At the latest Economic Committee meeting of worldsteel, held in Seoul, South Korea on September 11-12, Alacero, the Latin American steel association, stated that it has revised the economic situation in the Latin American steel industry downwards after the weak results observed during the first half of 2013.
 
The result is partially due to a drop in the projected regional GDP for 2013, which is now expected to grow just 2.6 percent compared to 3.6 percent projected last April. The outlook for 2014 remains stable, even though uncertainty levels are high because of the dependency of many Latin American countries on commodities and the Chinese demand.
 
According to Alacero, currently steel demand in Latin America is expected to grow by just 1.5 percent in 2013. Apparent steel use in Latin America has not indicated upward movement. Local production continues to be below consumption levels and the gap is being supplied by imports, and this is becoming a source of increased concern for several Latin American countries that witness the negative impact of the arrival of foreign products on local employment and industrialization.
 
Alacero also highlighted the low industrial activity in the region. After the contraction experienced in 2012, the industry has not achieved a sufficiently strong recovery in 2013 and it is expected to grow just 1.8 percent in the given year. In 2014, it will be possible to see slightly better results, with a growth of about 2.8 percent.