Latin America's finished steel production in March was down one percent year on year to 5.3 million mt, according to data released by Alacero, the Latin American steel association. In the first quarter of this year, Latin America's finished steel production grew by two percent to 14.13 million mt, year on year.
According to Alacero, Brazil accounted for 46 percent of the region's total output, producing 6.6 million mt of finished steel in the first three months of the year. Mexico ranked second with a 4.3 million mt output, which represents 31 percent of the region's total production.
According to Alacero, Venezuela and Ecuador increased their finished steel production by 11 percent and seven percent respectively, while Argentina saw its output fall eight percent, year-on-year.
Latin America's finished steel consumption in the first quarter reached 17.8 million mt, up five percent, year-on-year. According to Alacero, Mexico increased its finished steel consumption by 649,000 mt, followed by Peru (163,000 mt) and Colombia (164,000 mt). On the other hand, Brazil saw its finished steel consumption decrease by three percent, year-on-year. Likewise, Argentina's domestic finished steel consumption also reduced by 13 percent.