Alacero, the Latin American steel association, has reported that in the first ten months of this year apparent finished steel use in Latin America and the Caribbean totaled 51.4 million mt, down nine percent as compared with the same period of 2015. The highest increases were registered in Peru, up 200,000 mt (+9.0%), in Mexico, up 179,000 mt (+1%) and in Honduras, rising by 19,000 mt (+7%), while finished steel consumption decreased by 2.5 million mt (-14%) in Brazil, was down 989,000 mt (-23%) in Argentina, dropped by 201,000 mt (-8.0%) in Chile, diminished by 358,000 mt (-10.0%) in Colombia and narrowed by 180,000 mt (-13%) in Ecuador, all on year-on-year basis.
In the January-October period of this year, regional finished steel trade registered an annual deficit of 9.4 million mt, falling by 25 percent year on year. In the given period, only Brazil registered a surplus of 2.9 million mt, while the largest steel trade deficit was recorded in Mexico (3.8 million mt), followed by Colombia (1.9 million mt), Chile (1.3 million mt) and Peru (1.3 million mt).
On the other hand, according to advance information, Latin American crude steel production amounted to 4.9 million mt in November this year, falling by seven percent month on month and down by two percent compared to October last year.
Meanwhile, in the January-October period of the current year finished steel production in Latin America and the Caribbean amounted to 42.4 million mt, down six percent year on year.