Apparent consumption of steel plates (coil and sheet) in Mexico increased 1.0 percent in April, year-over-year, to 301,000 metric tons (mt). It is the first increase, at least in the last four months, according to data from the Mexican Chamber of the Iron and Steel Industry (Canacero) reviewed by SteelOrbis.
With a new format in steel plate statistics, consumption in January, February and March decreased, year-over-year, 4.1 percent, 5.5 percent and 25.4 percent with volumes of 331,000 mt, 308,000 mt and 282,000 mt, respectively.
Consumption will improve in May, because the Mexican government decided to eliminate antidumping (AD) and countervailing duties (CVD) on the import of sheet steel plates manufactured in Japan and Italy as of May 1. The surcharge was $23/mt for Italy and $236/mt for Japan, effective from 2019 until its cancellation.
In contrast, plate production in Mexico maintained the negative trend of the last four months and in April decreased 18.8 percent to 186,000 mt. It is the lowest volume, in at least the first four months of the year.
In the accumulated January-April, 1.22 million mt were consumed, 9.3 percent or 125,000 mt less. Production totaled 841,000 mt, 11.2 percent or 107,000 mt less compared to the same period in 2023.
Data from Canacero show that the producers of plate (roll and sheet) in Mexico are Ternium, Grupo Acerero and ArcelorMittal. Also AHMSA, but it is currently paralyzed due to insolvency.