Crude steel production in Argentina reached 446,900 mt in May, against 354,500 mt in April, according to the country’s steel association Acero Argentino.
Under the same comparative basis, the production of HRC increased by 92.7 percent to 180,000 mt, while the production of CRC increased by 36.3 percent to 99,500 mt and the production of long products increased by 3.5 percent to 182,500 mt.
According to Acero Argentino, the increase reflects the return to operation of plants that stopped for prescheduled maintenance of equipment in April.
In relation to the main steel demanding sectors, Acero Argentino mentioned that the main drivers for steel demand are now agriculture machinery, energy and civil construction. The agriculture machinery sector had sales increasing by 10.6 percent during the first quarter of the year, when compared to the same quarter of 2022.
In May, the civil construction sector increased sales by 5.9 percent from April, while under the same comparative basis the auto industry increased sales by 5.9 percent.
According to the association, the major threat for the steel sector is the difficulty to import raw materials not produced in the country, due to the current financial crisis the country is facing, including a shortage of foreign currencies and a yearly inflation rate estimated at 100 percent.
The association added that it sees potential problems with the supply of natural gas and electric energy, which could severely affect the production of crude steel and rolled products.