Mexico's apparent rebar consumption fell 23.5 percent, year-over-year, in October to 302,000 metric tons (mt), the fifth consecutive annual decline, according to Canacero data reviewed by SteelOrbis.
Rebar production also declined, now 26.4 percent, year-over-year, to 309,000 mt. It is the fifth consecutive annual decline and the steepest since at least January 2023. The highest in at least the past 34 months was in April 2023 at 448,000 mt.
Those five production reductions coincide with the takeover of the facilities of Mexico's largest steelmaker, ArcelorMittal, by Congressman Napoleón Gómez Urrutia's miners' union that blocked a blast furnace from May 24 to July 19. After releasing the plant, the company took another three months to reactivate billet production for rebar production.
In October, exports plummeted 76.0 percent to just 6,000 mt. There are no records of rebar imports from Canacero.
From January to October, consumption decreased 12.2 percent to 3.12 million mt. Production decreased 14.4 percent to 3.19 million mt. Exports plummeted 55.7 percent to 123,000 mt.
The construction industry, according to Canacero, is the largest consumer of steel in the country.