Alacero, the Latin American steel association, has reported that in the January-September period of this year apparent finished steel use in Latin America and the Caribbean totaled 52.22 million mt, down two percent as compared with the same period of 2014. The highest increases were registered in Mexico, up 1.56 million mt (+9%), in Chile, up 142,000 mt (+7%), in Honduras, rising by 96,000 mt (+74%) and in Ecuador, up 96,000 mt (+8%), while finished steel consumption in Brazil, Peru and Colombia decreased by 2.76 million mt (-14%), 345,000 mt (-14%) and 107,000 mt (-3%) respectively, all on year-on-year basis.
In the first nine months of the current year, regional finished steel trade registered an annual deficit of 11.7 million mt, falling by 1.4 percent compared to January-September 2014. In the given period, only Brazil registered a surplus of 1 million mt, while the largest steel trade deficit was recorded in Mexico (5.2 million mt), followed by Colombia (1.6 million mt), Chile (1.4 million mt) and Peru (1.1 million mt).
On the other hand, according to advance information, Latin American crude steel production amounted to 54.2 million mt in the January-October period of this year, down two percent compared to the same period of 2014. In October alone, crude steel production in the region amounted to 5.9 million mt, up 12 percent year on year.
Meanwhile, in the first nine months of this year finished steel production in Latin America and the Caribbean amounted to 45 million mt, down four percent year on year.