The production of iron pellets in Mexico decreased 9.2 percent, year-over-year, in June to 516,404 metric tons (mt), driven by a 28.9 percent drop in the Altos Hornos de México (AHMSA) region, and a drop of 5.6 percent in production in the region of the joint venture of Ternium and ArcelorMittal.
Output from the Las Truchas mining complex was resilient, down just 0.5 percent, according to SteelOrbis' analysis of data from national statistics agency Inegi.
The June drop is the sixth consecutive annual decline. Even in the last 12 months to June, production decreased for nine months with increases in July, August and December of last year.
Of the three large mining regions producing iron pellets in Mexico, the region where ArcelorMittal México operates its Las Truchas mining complex in Lázaro Cárdenas, in the western state of Michoacán was the most resilient with a decline of 0.5 percent or 552 mt per year. total 111,687 mt in June. The state of Michoacán contributed 21.6 percent to the total in June.
The largest producing region is located in the western state of Colima, in June it contributed 63.0 percent of the total. 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 was 325,520 mt, a volume that represented a drop of 5.6 percent or 19,478 mt.
The largest contraction occurred in the northern state of Coahuila, the cradle of steelmaker Altos Hornos de México (AHMSA). In June, production was 79,197 mt, a volume that represented a reduction of 29.9 percent or 32,296 mt compared to the sixth month of last year.
In June, the average value of a metric ton of pellets was MXN 1,424/mt, a figure that at today's exchange rate represents $82.0/mt. In pesos, the price decreased 19.7 percent in nominal terms (without adjustment to eliminate inflation).