Speaking at the 47th annual meeting of worldsteel (World Steel Association) held in Sao Paulo on October 7-9, Daniel Novegil, CEO of leading Latin American steelmaker Ternium, said that in the seven years between 2005 and 2012 metal-mechanical product exports from Latin America to China remained stable at around $4 billion, while imports of these products from China to Latin America increased by 3.5 times, from $21 billion to $86 billion. "The steel imports figures are even more dramatic," said Mr. Novegil, indicating that steel imports from China to Latin America increased 17-fold between 2005 and 2012.
Defining investments as the trigger for infrastructure improvement and the formation of an industrial base which would generate prosperity and make social development possible, Daniel Novegil compared investment growth in Latin America during the last decade to that in some other economies. Between 2000 and 2012, gross capital formation in China (durable goods and construction investments) increased its share from 35 percent to 48.4 percent of the country's GDP. In South Korea, it remained stable at levels of 30 percent, while in Latin America gross capital formation never exceeded levels of 20-22 percent.