In the first half of this year, Chinese finished steel exports amounted to 51.9 million mt, and of this volume 4.4 million metric tons arrived in Latin America, up 10 percent on year-on-year basis, according to Alacero, the Latin American steel association. The value of Latin America's finished steel imports from China in the given period amounted to $2.57 billion, while the average price of these finished steel shipments to Latin America - at $562/mt, down 13 percent year on year - was four percent higher than the average price of Chinese finished steel shipments to the rest of the world, reversing the trend seen in recent times.
In particular, in the first six months the average price in Central America of finished steel imports from China was $465/mt, 17 percent lower than the average price of Chinese shipments to the rest of the world, while the average price in the Dominican Republic of finished steel imports from China was $474/mt, 16 percent lower than the average price of Chinese shipments to the rest of the world, while the average price of Chinese imports in Peru was $504/mt, 10 percent lower.
Meanwhile, in the first half of the current year, Latin America received 2.6 million mt of flat steel and 1.32 million mt of long steel from China.