Alacero, the Latin American steel association, has reported that in the January-August period of this year apparent finished steel use in Latin America and the Caribbean totaled 46.07 million mt, down two percent as compared with the same period of 2014. The highest increases were registered in Mexico, up 1.3 million mt (+9%), in Chile, up 121,000 mt (+7%), in Honduras, rising by 55,000 mt (+48%) and in Ecuador, up 49,000 mt (+4%), while finished steel consumption in Brazil, Colombia and Peru decreased by 2.22 million mt (-13%), 233,000 mt (-8%) and 141,000 mt (-7%) respectively, all on year-on-year basis.
In the first eight months of the current year, regional finished steel trade registered an annual deficit of 10.2 million mt, falling by two percent compared to January-August 2014. In the given period, only Brazil registered a surplus of 666,000, while the largest steel trade deficit was recorded in Mexico (4.6 million mt), followed by Colombia (1.3 million mt), Chile (1.2 million mt) and Peru (980,000 mt).
On the other hand, according to advance information, Latin American crude steel production amounted to 48.4 million mt in the January-September period of this year, down two percent compared to the same period of 2014. In September alone, crude steel production in the region amounted to 5.3 million mt, down four percent year on year.
Meanwhile, in the first nine months of this year finished steel production in Latin America and the Caribbean amounted to 40.4 million mt, down four percent year on year.