Alacero, the Latin American steel association, has reported that in the January-February period of this year apparent finished steel use in Latin America and the Caribbean totaled 10.3 million mt, down 16 percent as compared with the same period of 2015. The highest increases were registered in Honduras, up 75,000 mt (+217%), in Guatemala, up 24,000 mt (+16%), in Mexico, rising by 15,000 mt (+0.4%), and Chile, up 2,000 mt (+1.0), while finished steel consumption decreased by 1.4 million mt (-34%) in Brazil, was down 60,000 mt (-8.0%) in Argentina, dropped by 49,000 mt (-8.0%) in Peru and narrowed by 53,000 mt (-7.0%) in Colombia, all on year-on-year basis.
In the first two months of this year, regional finished steel trade registered an annual deficit of 2.2 million mt, falling by 35 percent compared to the January-February period of last year. In the given period, only Brazil registered a surplus of 601,000 mt, while the largest steel trade deficit was recorded in Mexico (918,000 mt), followed by Colombia (410,000 mt), Peru (301,000 mt) and Chile (270,000 mt).
On the other hand, according to advance information, Latin American crude steel production amounted to 4.8 million mt in March this year, increasing by three percent month on month and down by 11 percent compared to March last year.
Meanwhile, in the January-February period of the current year finished steel production in Latin America and the Caribbean amounted to 8.1 million mt, down nine percent year on year.