Latin America reports 19% jump in steel imports from China

The primary importer of Chinese steel in the region during Jan-May ’17 was Central America with 655,000 tons.

SPOKANE (Scrap Monster): The most recent trade data published by the Latin American Steel Association (ALACERO) states that steel imports by the region from China totaled 3.3 million tonnes (Mt) during the initial five-month period of the year.

Latin America accounted for 9.9% share of total Chinese exports. Imports of finished steel products totaled 2.3 million tons, whereas steel-derivatives products accounted for 278,000 tons. The percentage share of Chinese steel imports by the region surged higher from 6.0% in Jan-May ‘16. Latin America was the third preferred destination of Chinese steel exports, after South Korea and Vietnam.

The primary importer of Chinese steel in the region during Jan-May ’17 was Central America with 655,000 tons, accounting for 20% of the regional imports. The second largest regional importer of Chinese steel was Chile. The imports by Chile totaled 638,000 tons. In third place was Peru with 493,000 tons. The imports by the country accounted for 15% regional share.

During the first five months of 2017, several countries reported considerable increase in imports of Chinese steel. The countries which recorded major jump in import volumes were Brazil (+71%), Ecuador (+70%), Dominican Republic (+64%), Argentina (+58%) and Costa Rica (+46%). On the other hand, imports by Cuba and Venezuela recorded sharp decline of 61% and 45% respectively during the initial five months in 2017. Paraguay’s imports too have dropped by 15%.

The Chinese steel exports to the world totaled 33.1 Mt during Jan-May ‘17. Out of this, finished steel exports totaled 30.5 Mt and the balance 2.6 Mt accounted for steel-derivatives products. The steel exports by the country were down sharply by 27% when matched with the previous year. The Chinese steel exports had totaled 45.34 Mt during the initial five-month period in 2016.

During the month of May this year alone, Latin America imported 679,000 tons of Chinese steel, including 597,000 tons of finished steel and 81,000 tons of steel-derived products. This is marginally higher by 3% when matched with a year before. The region had imported 661,000 tons of steel products including 573,000 tons of finished products and 88,000 tons of derived products.

Flat products constituted 66% of the total imports of finished steel and steel-derivative products from China. The Latin American imports of flat products totaled 2.2 million tons during the first five months of the current year. The major flat steel products imported during the period were other alloyed steel sheets and coils (660,000 tons) and hot dip galvanized sheet (529,000 tons) and cold rolled coil (356,000 tons).

Long steel imports totaled 624,000 tons in Jan-May ’17. The main long steel product imported by the region from China was wire rods. The imports of wire rods totaled 307,000 tons, accounting for almost half of long steel imports. The imports of bars totaled 250,000 tons.

During Jan-May ‘17, seamless pipe imports from China totaled 112,000 tons, accounting for 4% of total finished steel and steel-derivative products that entered the region during the five-month period.

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