Martin Berardi, president of Latin America steel association (Alacero), told reporters at the association’s conference this week that Latin American countries were not able to cooperate as a region to fight what he called the “Chinese phenomenon”.
He did not give figures for steel prices in the region, but said the difference between Chinese and Latin American prices “is not sustainable.”
Data from trade group show the region’s imports of finished steel from China reached 18.4 million mt so far in 2014, a 2.9 percent increase from the same period in 2013.
Mexico remained as the country that imported the most from China, importing about 7.9 million mt of finished steel in 2014, followed by Brazil, with 3.6 million mt and Colombia, with 2 million mt.
The region as a whole has been applying anti-dumping measures as way to fight Chinese imports, but while prices generally fluctuate throughout the year, prices have shown a steep uptrend when anti-dumping measures are implemented.
Berardi said one of the major efforts of Alacero has been organizing and articulating the issue around the region in order to coordinate the fight against the growing number of Chinese imports.