Iron pellet production in Mexico increased 4.4 percent, year-over-year, to 587,754 metric tons (mt) in December, the national statistics agency Inegi reported Tuesday.
The average value of the metric ton in December 2022 was MXN 1,495 pesos/mt, a figure that at today's exchange rate represents $79.2/mt. In pesos, the price decreased 6.7 percent in nominal terms (inflation included).
According to the Inegi report, the production volume of the four main steel minerals increased 3.2 percent to 1.03 million mt, with the increase driven by non-coking coal and iron pellets.
Non-coking coal production totaled 381,201 mt, up 2.5 percent, year-over-year. The average price of non-coking coal in December was $31.3/mt.
The products that decreased in production were: coke with 38,226 mt and the manganese production volume was 20,123 mt, volumes that decreased 2.7 and 4.8 percent, compared to December 2021.
Regarding the extraction of iron ore, in December it decreased 18.0 percent, year over year, to 670,502 mt.
Of the four states that contribute 95 percent of production, only Durango increased its extraction volume by 7.8 percent to 132,430 mt.
The two states with the highest iron production in Mexico, Michoacán decreased 12.6 percent to 213,253 mt and Colima decreased 5.5 percent to 229,755 mt. The two contributed 66.1 percent of the total.
In Coahuila, iron ore production decreased 63.1 percent, totaling 61,842 mt in December 2022.