Iron pellet production in Mexico decreased 11.4 percent in November, year-over-year, to 517,135 metric tons (mt). The 35.8 percent drop in the region where ArcelorMittal has its operations stood out with a lower production volume in the last 42 months, according to a SteelOrbis analysis of data from the national statistics agency Inegi.
Of the three large mining regions producing iron pellets in Mexico, the most important, with 68.4 percent of all production, is located in the western state of Colima. In that entity, two large complexes stand out: 1) Peña Colorada, a 50-50 joint venture of the Luxembourg-based steel companies: Ternium and ArcelorMittal, and the Las Encinas mining complex, owned by Ternium.
In November, pellet production had a different behavior in Colima: Production in the town of Manzanillo decreased 9.3 percent to 191,893 mt. In contrast, in the Cuauhtémoc town, production increased 4.1 percent to 162,066 mt. Thus, the total for the state of Colima decreased 3.6 percent to 353,959 mt, the second consecutive annual decline.
According to data from the governmental Mexican Geological Service (SGM), the mining complex located in Cuauhtémoc is Las Encinas de Ternium and the one located in Manzanillo is Peña Colorada.
In the region where ArcelorMittal México operates its Las Truchas mining complex in Lázaro Cárdenas, in the western state of Michoacán, production in November was 74,303 mt, 35.8 percent, year-over-year. This volume is the lowest in the last 42 months, only surpassed by the 74,032 mt in May 2020.
The third largest region is in the northern state of Coahuila, the birthplace of the Altos Hornos de México steel company (AHMSA). Iron pellet production in November decreased 11.4 percent or 11,455 mt to total 88,873 mt.
In November, the average value of the metric ton of pellets was MXN 1,337 pesos, a figure that at today's exchange rate represents $76.2/mt. In pesos, the price decreased 9.8 percent in nominal terms (without adjustment to eliminate inflation).