Argentina's crude steel production in August reached 371,300 mt, increasing 4.5 percent compared to July though 29.1 percent lower than production during the same month last year, announced the Center for Industrial Steel (CIS) this week.
Additionally, according to the state-run steel research agency, iron ore production in Argentina dropped to 194,300 mt in August, or down 6.1 percent compared to the previous month and 51.7 percent below August 2008.
Accumulated crude steel production in the first eight months of the year amounted to 2,385,400 mt, or 39.1 percent less than what seen last year in the same months.
Accumulated iron ore production reached 1,600,700 mt or 50 percent less than last year's production during the same amount of time.
Hot rolled coil production in Argentina totaled 346,200 mt in August, or an 8.5 percent increase compared to the previous month and a 4.4 percent hike compared to the same month last year.
The CIS' report described how market players at the Annual Brazilian Steel Congress expressed their concern about the growing excess steel capacity worldwide. The report mentions a study from the World Steel Association that projects the global crude steel production capacity to reach 1.8 billion mt in 2009 while the projected global consumption is supposed to only total 1.15 billion mt.
Another big concern of the CIS is the amount of manufactured steel goods imported from China to Latin America, which the association says increased 41 percent in 2008, during which Chinese exports of these goods rose only 20 percent in the rest of the world.