In the first seven months of the current year, Chinese finished steel exports amounted to 56.4 million mt, up 28 percent, and of this volume five million metric tons arrived in Latin America, up six percent, both on year-on-year basis, according to Alacero, the Latin American steel association. Accordingly, Latin America’s share in China’s finished steel exports from 10.7 percent to 8.9 percent year on year, while it ranked as the second biggest destination for Chinese finished steel exports after South Korea. In July alone, Latin America's finished imports from China fell by seven percent month on month to 590,000 mt and decreased by 16 percent compared to July 2014.
In the first seven months, China's main finished steel export destinations in Latin America were Brazil which received 837,000 mt, equal to a 17 percent share of China's total finished steel exports to Latin America, Central America with 805,000 mt with a 16 percent share, and Chile with 702,000 mt amounting to a 14 percent share.
Meanwhile, in the same period, Latin America received 2.9 million mt of flat steel and 1.8 million mt of long steel from China.