In the past two weeks, the domestic price of Mexican rebar increased US$33/mt to reach US$675/mt ex mill.
Despite the uptrend in prices, the domestic construction industry has still been unable to reverse the crisis that it has suffered through since mid-2012. During the first month of 2014, the value of the output generated by construction companies fell 3.9 percent over the same period of 2013 and 0.27 percent from the previous month, according to official sources.
As a result, the production value of construction companies has seen nine continuous months of decreases in annual comparison. Sectors particularly affected in January were: specialized jobs construction, down 12.5 percent; and construction of civil engineering, down 4.5 percent.
However, Mexican mills are expecting demand to recover in the US market, which would help lift the prices of rebar exports.