LatAm Steel Production and Trade Forecast to Slump in 2019

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The Latin American Steel Association (ALACERO) expects significant fall in regional steel production and trade in 2019, on account of various internal and external factors. The apparent steel consumption by the region is unlikely to exceed 68 Mt, mainly influenced by Mexico- the region’s second largest economy.

The Latin American crude steel production totaled 5 million tonnes (Mt) in June this year, significantly lower by 5% when matched with the production of 5.5 Mt in June last year. The accumulated production during the first six months of the year totaled 31.3 Mt. This compares with the production of 27.1 Mt from January to June in 2018. Year-on-year, the regional crude steel output recorded 4% drop.

The primary crude steel producers until June this year were Brazil (17.2 Mt) and Mexico (9.5 Mt). The production by the above countries represented 55% and 30% of the total regional output during this period.

The region’s rolled steel production witnessed notable decline by 8% year-on-year in June, falling from 4.5 Mt to 4.1 Mt. The Jan-June ’19 production saw a drop by 7% over the previous year. The accumulated output dropped from 27.4 Mt to 25.6 Mt, the report said. The key producer was Brazil with 11.6 Mt, which accounted for 45% of the Latin American total. In second place was Mexico, whose output totaled 8.7 Mt. The country accounted for 34% of the total regional rolled steel production.