Latin American Steel Sector Recorded Substantially Lower Activity Level

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The steel industry in Latin America reported substantially lower level of activity during the initial seven-month period of the year. This was mainly driven by political uncertainty, economic slowdown and unprecedented fall in rolled consumption, observed the Latin American Steel Association (ALACERO).

The region’s crude steel production plunged to lowest level in 31 months. Upon comparison with the prior month, the production recorded a decline of 5%. Year-on-year, the production witnessed a decline of almost 15%. The sharp decline in output was mainly because of fall in production by Brazil.

The rolled steel imports by Latin American region recorded their lowest level since February last year, hitting 1.699 Mt in June ’19. The largest declines were recorded in Mexico and Brazil, ALACERO noted.

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The laminate exports dropped by 9% in June, when compared with the prior month. The year-to-date exports registered a 6% decrease. Much of the decrease were attributed by Brazil, whose export volumes plunged by nearly 45,000 tons compared with the previous month. Argentina too recorded a decline of 27,000 tons in laminate exports.

The Latin American trade balance registered lower deficit. The trade deficit reduction hit the lowest level since February 2018. Brazil and Argentina were the only two countries to record positive trade balance of 1.2 Mt and 124,000 tons respectively. The largest regional deficit of 3.5 Mt was recorded by Mexico. The country thus accounted for 50% of the Latin American deficit.