Latin America's finished steel trade deficit up 10% in January-May

Alacero, the Latin American steel association, has reported that in the first five months of this year apparent finished steel use in Latin America and the Caribbean totaled 28.6 million mt, up two percent or 601,000 mt year on year. The highest increases were registered in Mexico, up 965,000 mt (+12%), in Colombia, up 251,000 mt (+17%) and in Argentina, up 149,000 mt (+7%), while finished steel consumption in Venezuela, Ecuador and Chile decreased by 463,000 mt (-39%), 206,000 mt (-23%) and 119,000 mt (-10%) respectively, all on year-on-year basis. In May alone, apparent finished steel use in Latin America and the Caribbean remained stable compared to May 2013, at 5.98 million mt.
 
On the other hand in the first five months of the current year, regional finished steel trade registered a deficit of 5.4 million mt, increasing by 10 percent compared to January-May 2013. In the given period, all Latin American countries presented steel trade deficits, led by Mexico with an imbalance of 1.5 million mt. Other countries that showed significant deficits were Colombia (944,518 mt) and Chile (636,500 mt).
 
Latin American crude steel production amounted to 32 million mt in the first half of this year, up one percent compared with the same period of 2013. In June alone, crude steel production in the region amounted to 5.2 million mt, down one percent year on year.
 
Meanwhile, in the first half of this year finished steel production in Latin America and the Caribbean increased by one percent year on year, amounting to 28 million mt. In June alone, finished steel production in the region amounted to 4.4 million mt, down eight percent year on year.