Canacero maps Mexico’s steel industry

A map and chart created by Mexican steel trade association Canacero provides information on the state of the nation’s steel sector as of 2021.

The detailed document indicates the nation produced 16.8 million metric tons of crude steel in 2020 at facilities known by Canacero. The impact of COVID-19 and subsequent restriction is made clear by Canacero’s comment that the annual figure is down by 1.7.8 percent compared with 2018.

Nonetheless, says the trade group, Mexico in 2020 was the world’s 15^th largest producer of steel, with much of its production clustered in the northeast (Nuevo León and Coahuila states) and south central (including the states of Michoacán, Veracruz and Puebla) regions of the nation.

Canacero lists several ports as being the most active in terms of importing raw materials for steelmaking, including Ensenada (near Southern California) in the north of the country, Manzanillo on the southwest coast and Tampico on the central east coast.

Nine steelmakers are listed as having been active producers of crude steel in 2020 in Mexico: AHMSA (Altos Hornos), ArcelorMittal, Deacero, Gerdau Corsa, Grupo Acerero, Grupo Simec, Tenaris TAMSA, Ternium and Tyasa.

Mexico both imports and exports considerable amounts of finished steel, according to the Canacero fact sheet. More than one-third of the steel it imports comes from the United States, with Japan being the next biggest shipper. On the export side, Mexican mills have their largest market by far in the U.S., which accepts nearly two-thirds of Mexico exported steel.

A display on the Canacero website indicates the nation’s mills used ferrous scrap as 38 percent of their feedstock in 2020, which the association says is above the global average of 23 percent for last year.

The PDF map and series of charts (in Spanish) can be viewed on this web page.