In the first eight months of the current year, Chinese finished steel exports amounted to 65.4 million mt, up 28 percent, and of this volume 5.7 million metric tons arrived in Latin America, up five percent, both on year-on-year basis, according to Alacero, the Latin American steel association. Accordingly, in the given period Latin America’s share in China’s finished steel exports decreased from 10.6 percent to 8.7 percent year on year. In August alone, Latin America's finished imports from China increased by 21 percent month on month to 712,000 mt, remaining stable compared to August 2014.
In the first eight months, China's main finished steel export destinations in Latin America were Central America which received 961,000 mt, equal to a 17 percent share of China's total finished steel exports to Latin America, Brazil with 928,000 mt with a 16 percent share, and Chile with 793,000 mt amounting to a 14 percent share.
Meanwhile, in the same period, Latin America received 3.4 million mt of flat steel and 2.06 million mt of long steel from China.