Steel output up in Mexico, Brazil

Latin America’s steelmaking leaders post double-digit output gains in the first half of 2017.


Mexico and Brazil, the two largest volume steelmakers in Latin America, each posted double-digit percentage steel output gains in the first half of 2017.

 

Figures collected and distributed by the Brussels-based World Steel Association (WorldSteel), show that while the United States managed just a 1.3 percent rise in output in the first half of 2017 compared with 2016, Mexico’s output climbed by 11.2 percent and Brazil’s production by 12.4 percent.

 

Brazil produced more than 16.7 million metric tons of steel from January through June 2017, up by nearly 2 million tons (12.4 percent) compared with the first half of 2016. In Mexico, meanwhile, first-half 2017 output of 10 million metric tons represented an 11 percent increase compared with the 900,000 metric tons produced in the first six months of 2016.

 

Argentina, Latin America’s third largest steelmaking nation, also boosted its output beyond the 1.3 percent rise of the U.S., though its 3.2 percent gain in output did not come close to matching Brazil or Mexico’s double-digit gains.

 

The first-half 2017 trends in nations with smaller steel output include the following:

 

  • Colombia produced 629,000 metric tons, down 1.8 percent from 2016;
  • Peru produced 597,000 metric tons, up 8.2 percent;
  • Chile produced 581,000 metric tons, down 2.3 percent;
  • Ecuador produced 278,000 metric tons, down 3.5 percent; and
  • Venezuela produced 267,000 metric tons, up 88.5 percent.

 

According to an analysis posted on the Hellenic Shipping News website, the growth in steel output in Brazil and Mexico occurred despite Latin America importing 13 percent more Chinese steel by volume in the first half of 2017 compared with the first six months of 2016.