Alacero, the Latin American steel association, has reported that in the first half of this year apparent finished steel use in Latin America and the Caribbean totaled 33.07 million mt, up four percent compared with the same period of 2016. The highest increases were registered in Mexico, up 1.2 million mt (+10%), in Colombia, up 74,000 mt (+4.0%) and in Chile, rising by 44,000 mt (+3.0%), while finished steel consumption decreased by 120,000 mt (-5.0%) in Argentina, was down 181,000 mt (-52%) in Bolivia, dropped by 164,000 mt (-21%) in Ecuador, declined by 186,000 mt (-42%) in Guatemala and diminished by 37,000 mt (-21%) in Honduras, all on year-on-year basis.
In the January-June period of this year, regional finished steel trade registered an annual deficit of 6.2 million mt, rising by 17 percent year on year. In the given period, only Brazil and Argentina registered surpluses, of 1.4 million mt and 96,000 mt, respectively, while the largest steel trade deficit was recorded in Mexico (2.9 million mt), followed by Colombia (1.2 million mt), Chile (838,000 mt), Peru (754,000) and Ecuador (551,000).
On the other hand, according to advance information, Latin American crude steel production amounted to 5.2 million mt in July this year, rising by two percent month on month and down by one percent compared to July 2016.
Meanwhile, in the January-June period this year finished steel production in Latin America and the Caribbean amounted to 26.2 million mt, up four percent year on year.