LatAm Imports of Steel from China Declined 7% in 2017

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The imports of steel products from China by the Latin American countries declined substantially by 8% during 2017, says the latest trade data released by the Latin American Steel Association (ALACERO).

The Latin American region imported 7.0 million tons (Mt) of steel products from China during the year, comprising of 6.8 Mt of finished steel and 802,000 tons of steel-derivative products. The volume of imports from China dropped by nearly 8% when compared with the imports of 7.6 Mt recorded in 2016. The primary importer of Chinese steel during the year was the Central American region which received 1.4 Mt, accounting for nearly 20% of the total imports by the region. The other main importers of finished steel and steel-derivative products from China were Chile (1.4 Mt) and Peru (962,000 tons).

During 2017, Latin America imported 4.7 Mt of flat products from China. Flat products constituted 68% of the total imports of finished steel and steel-derivative products from China. The share of flat steel products surged higher significantly from 46% in 2016. Among countries in the region, Chile emerged as the top importer of flat steel from China. The country’s imports totaled 1.1 Mt, followed by Central America (911,000 tons) and Brazil (729,000 tons).

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The imports of long products from China totaled 1.3 Mt in during the previous year, accounting for 18% of the total steel received by the region. The largest importer of Chinese long steel in the region was Central America (311,000 tons). Meantime, the imports of seamless pipes totaled 250,000 tons, accounting for 4% share. The seamless pipe imports by the Latin American region dropped sharply by 20% when compared to 2016.

The share of steel derivative products dropped sharply from 17% in 2016 to 11% in 2017. The import volume totaled 754,000 tons, of which 612,000 tons were seamless pipes and the balance 143,000 tons were wires.