South America reports growing steel output in July

The Brussels-based World Steel Association (WorldSteel) has reported that crude steel production in South America rose by 7.7 percent, or about 275,000 metric tons, in July 2018 compared with July 2017.

The continent’s two largest national producers, Brazil and Argentina, each recorded year-on-year gains. Brazil’s output in July surpassed 3 million metric tons, rising by 6.7 percent compared with its July 2017 total of 2.83 million metric tons.

Argentina’s steelmakers in July 2018 churned out 464,000 metric tons of steel, an increase of 16.3 percent compared with the 399,000 metric tons of output in July 2017.

Peru was the only other nation in South America to produce more than 100,000 metric tons of steel in July 2018, with both Chile and Colombia dipping below that figure after 14.1 and 16.4 percent drops in output compared with July 2017 respectively.

Steelmakers in Mexico produced an estimated 1.78 million metric tons of steel in July 2018, a 3 percent increase over the nearly 1.73 million metric tons produced in July 2017. The nation’s output growth lagged behind its neighbor the United States, where July 2018’s production of 7.27 million metric tons was 4.5 percent higher than its year ago figure.

Year to date after seven months, Latin America’s highest percentage steel output growth (among lager producers) is Argentina’s 19.5 percent growth rate compared with 2017. Despite its widely documented economic woes, Venezuela has produced 34.9 percent more steel so far in 2018 compared with 2017, according to the figures it has reported to WorldSteel.

Chile and Colombia are the only two larger Latin American nations with steel output declines so far in 2018, with Colombia’s output falling by 13.9 percent and Chile’s by 7.4 percent.