Iron pellet production in Mexico decreased 9.0 percent, year-over-year, in August to 529,066 metric tons (mt), a behavior driven by the 49.1 percent decline in the Altos Hornos de México (AHMSA) region, and by the 0.6 percent decrease in production in the region of the Peña Colorada complex, 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 68.6 percent of all production, is located in the western state of Colima. In that entity, there is the Peña Colorada mining complex, a joint venture of the Luxembourg-based steel companies: Ternium and ArcelorMittal.
In Colima, production totaled 363,139 mt, 0.6 percent or 2,017 mt less compared to August of last year, the third consecutive annual drop.
In the region where ArcelorMittal México operates its Las Truchas mining complex in Lázaro Cárdenas, in the western state of Michoacán, production totaled 113,204 mt, reflecting an increase of 0.4 percent compared to August of last year.
Michoacán contributed 21.4 percent of all production in the eighth month of the year, according to Inegi data.
The greatest contraction in pellet production occurred in the northern state of Coahuila, headquarters for currently idled Altos Hornos de México (AHMSA). In August, production was 52,723 mt, a volume that represented an annual drop of 49.1 percent or 50,925 mt compared to the same month last year, the seventh consecutive annual decline in Coahuila.
In August, the average value of pellets was MXN 1,359/mt ($73/mt). In pesos, the price decreased 19.1 percent in nominal terms (without adjustment to eliminate inflation).