Argentina's annual steel production down from '06

Argentina's crude steel production totaled 4.90 million mt year-to-date (YTD) at the end of November, down 4.8 percent from the 5.15 million mt produced during the same period of 2006, the Argentine Steel Producers Association (CIS - Centro de Industriales Siderurgicos) announced this week.
 
In November alone, Argentina's raw steel production totaled 490,500 mt, up 19.8 percent from November 2006, but down 1.4 percent from October of this year.
 
Hot rolled production totaled 464,600 mt in November, up 1.2 percent from the previous month and up 3.5 percent year on year. Meanwhile, cold rolled production in November was 137,500 mt, up 16 percent from October and up a whopping 93.1 percent from the same month last year.
 
The CIS said that, in general, the forecast for the rest of 2007 and 2008 looks positive, with steady demand both domestically and internationally, and growing steel production due to recent investments in the country's steel industry.
 
The main steelmakers in Argentina are longs producer, Acindar, and flats producer, Siderar.