According to the data released by Latin American steel association Alacero, imports of steel products including long and flat products and seamless tubes to Latin America from China totaled 439,057 metric tons in September this year, rising 28 percent compared to the previous month. The countries that showed the highest increases in steel product imports from China in September were Mexico with 78 percent, Colombia with 63 percent and Brazil with 41 percent, all month on month.
Most steel products exported from China to Latin America in September were flat products. The country exported 58,436 mt of flat products to Chile, 45,902 mt to Brazil and 40,805 mt to Mexico in the given month.
Meanwhile, in the first nine months of the year Latin American steel product imports from China amounted to 3.2 million mt with a value of $2.7 million. Latin America accounted for nine percent of the total steel product exports from China in the given period.
During this period, the countries which imported the greatest volumes of steel products from China were Brazil (649,764 mt), Chile (576,595 mt) and Peru (491,526 mt). These three countries represented 54 percent of the region's imports from China in the first nine months.