Steelmaking rebounds strongly in Brazil

Steel output of 2.6 million metric tons in Brazil in September represented a 7.5 increase compared with the amount of steel made there in September 2019. Brazil’s return to pre-COVID-19 output placed it alone among Latin-American nation’s for the month, according to data gathered by Brussels-based Worldsteel.

Mexico’s September output of an estimated 1.4 million metric tons of steel was 3.9 percent lower compared with September 2019. Year to date, Mexico is 13.6 percent behind its 2019 output pace, while Brazil’s strong September brought it within 9.7 percent of its 2019 output total.

Among the region’s smaller producers, Argentina’s output in September checked in at 11.9 percent lower compared with September 2019. Year to date, the slightly less than 2.5 million metric tons of steel made in Argentina in the first three quarters of 2020 is 30.7 less than was made in the first three quarters of 2019.

Chile, a much smaller producer than Argentina, joins Brazil as the only other South American nation with a rise in output in 2020. The 839,000 metric tons of steel made in Chile in the first nine months of this year represents a 5 percent rise in output compared with the first three quarters of 2019.

In the United States, meanwhile, September steel output was 18.5 percent lower than the September 2019 figure. Year to date, the 53.4 million metric tons of steel output in the U.S. is down by 19.2 percent compared with the 66.1 million metric tons produced in the first nine months of 2019.