South American Steel Output Soared 7% in February

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The steel output by South American countries surged higher significantly during the month of February this year. This is in accordance with the recent production statistics released by the World Steel Association (worldsteel). The production jump was mainly attributed to increased production by top producing countries in the region including Argentina, Brazil and Peru.

The South American steel output totaled 3.483 million tonnes (Mt) during the month, as compared with the output of 3.259 Mt in February last year. Year-on-year, the output grew by 6.9%. The combined output during the initial two-month period of the year too was up by nearly 5% to total 7.079 Mt.

The leading crude steel producer in the region was Brazil. The Brazilian output totaled 2.714 Mt, accounting for nearly 80% of the total output by the region. The output by the country witnessed jump of 5.5% over the previous year. The Brazilian crude steel production had totaled only 2.572 Mt in February last year.

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The second largest producer, Argentina recorded considerable jump in output during the month. The country’s output surged higher by approximately 37% from 305,000 tonnes in February 2017 to 417,000 tonnes in February this year. In third place was Peru with 100,000 tonnes. The country’s output too increased sharply by more than 7% when compared with the output of 93,000 tonnes in Feb ’17.

The countries to report biggest year-on-year jumps in February were Paraguay and Uruguay. Paraguay doubled its output over the previous year. Uruguay too produced 67% more steel during the month.

On the other hand, the rise in production in the above countries was partially offset by declines in other countries such as Venezuela, Colombia and Ecuador. The Venezuelan production tumbled by 32%, whereas Columbia reported 17% drop in production. Ecuador’s production too was down by over 6%.

It must be noted that South American crude steel output had increased by 3.2% in January this year.