Alacero, the Latin American steel association, has reported that in the January-July period of this year apparent finished steel use in Latin America and the Caribbean totaled 40.46 million mt, down three percent as compared with the same period of 2014. The highest increases were registered in Mexico, up 1.2 million mt (+9%), in Chile, up 148,000 mt (+10%), in Honduras, rising by 53,000 mt (+56%) and in Ecuador, up 41,000 mt (+4%), while finished steel consumption in Brazil, Peru and Colombia decreased by 1.9 million mt (-12%), 198,000 mt (-11%) and 196,000 mt (-8%) respectively, all on year-on-year basis.
In the first seven months of the current year, regional finished steel trade registered an annual deficit of 9.2 million mt, increasing by one percent compared to January-July 2014. In the given period, Brazil showed the largest steel trade deficit of 4 million mt, followed by Colombia (1.1 million mt), Chile (1.1 million mt) and Peru (190,000 mt).
On the other hand, Latin American crude steel production amounted to 43 million mt in the January-August period of this year, down one percent compared to the same period of 2014. In August alone, crude steel production in the region amounted to 5.5 million mt, up one percent year on year.
Meanwhile, in the first eight months of this year finished steel production in Latin America and the Caribbean amounted to 36.1 million mt.