Alacero, The Latin American Steel Association, reported Thursday substantially improved steel production and consumption throughout Latin American countries, although the trade deficit widened.
Latin American crude steel production was 68.1 million tons in 2011--up 11 percent year-on-year, as apparent finished steel use reached 61.9 million tons--2.2 percent more than in 2010. Just in January, steel production was 5.5 million tons, reflecting a 2.1 percent increase from January2010; Brazil alone was responsible for 51 percent of the region's crude steel production in January with a volume of 28 million tons. In Brazil, steel demand contracted 3.4 percent last year, reaching a volume of 25.2 million tons against 26.1 million tons in 2010. Argentina and Mexico had a more dynamic market, with a demand increase of 8.7 percent and 6.3 percent, respectively.
Mexico produced 1.6 million tons of crude steel in January, a 4 percent increase compared with the same month in 2011. Finished steel use in the region reached a volume of 4.9 million tons, against finished steel production of 4.4 million tons in December 2011.
In January 2012, finished steel production in Latin America was 4.4 million tons, 1 percent more than in January 2011. Steel production slowed 30 percent in Argentina and 1 percent in Brazil, while Mexico produced a volume of 1.3 million tons, similar to the volume in January 2011.
Throughout 2011, the gap between imports and exports deepened. Just in December 2011, 1.5 million tons were imported, but only 630,900 tons were exported. For the whole year 2011, the regional deficit was 8.8 million tons, mostly attributed to an imbalance in Mexico--5.8 million tons of steel were imported and only 3.3 million tons were exported.
Chile and Colombia had a deficit of 1.1 and 2.1 million tons respectively. Alacero said that although Chile and Colombia are traditionally net importers, the growing presence of China as a trading partner has lessened the volume of imports from other Latin American countries.