Steelmaking slowing in parts of South America

Monthly crude steel output figures released by the Brussels-based World Steel Association (WorldSteel) show double-digit drops in production in both Brazil and Chile in May 2018 compared with May 2017.

Output in Brazil dropped to 2.68 million metric tons in May 2018 compared with 2.93 million metric tons (down 8.6 percent). In Chile, May 2018 output of an estimated 85,000 metric tons was down by 12.5 percent compared with the 97,000 metric tons produced in May 2017.

Year-to-date comparisons are not as gloomy. In the first five months of 2018, Brazil produced 14.27 million metric tons of steel, up by 1.4 percent compared with the same period in 2017. Chile’s 2018 output figure is lower compared with the first five months of 2017 but by 4.8 percent rather than a double-digit amount.

Colombia is another nation with lower output so far in 2018, with its steelmakers producing 463,000 metric tons of steel from January through May 2018, down 12.5 percent from the 529,000 metric tons produced in early 2017.

Argentina’s steelmakers, meanwhile, are partially filling the void by producing 22 percent more steel in the first five months of 2018 compared with the same time frame in 2017. Steelmakers there produced 1.75 million metric tons from January through May 2017 but boosted output to nearly 2.14 million metric tons in the first five months of 2018.

Farther north in Mexico, despite political tension coming from primary trading partner the United States and a likely change in its own government coming soon, steelmakers in that nation have recorded steady output gains.

The nation’s steel output is up by 4.8 percent compared with the first five months of 2017 (from 8.35 million metric tons in the first five months of 2017 to 8.75 million metric tons in the same part of 2018). May 2018 steel output in Mexico was up by 3.4 percent compared with the May 2017 volume.

Sponsored Content

SENNEBOGEN 340G telehandler improves the view in Macon County, NC

An elevated cab is one of several features improving operational efficiency at the Macon County Solid Waste Management agency in North Carolina. When it comes to waste management, efficiency, safety and reliability are priorities driving decisions from day one, according to staff members of the Macon County Solid Waste Management Department in western North Carolina. The agency operates a recycling plant in a facility originally designed to bale incoming materials. More recently, the building has undergone significant transformations centered around one machine: a SENNEBOGEN telehandler (telescopic handler).

Sponsored Content

SENNEBOGEN 340G telehandler improves the view in Macon County, NC

An elevated cab is one of several features improving operational efficiency at the Macon County Solid Waste Management agency in North Carolina. When it comes to waste management, efficiency, safety and reliability are priorities driving decisions from day one, according to staff members of the Macon County Solid Waste Management Department in western North Carolina. The agency operates a recycling plant in a facility originally designed to bale incoming materials. More recently, the building has undergone significant transformations centered around one machine: a SENNEBOGEN telehandler (telescopic handler).

Sponsored Content

SENNEBOGEN 340G telehandler improves the view in Macon County, NC

An elevated cab is one of several features improving operational efficiency at the Macon County Solid Waste Management agency in North Carolina. When it comes to waste management, efficiency, safety and reliability are priorities driving decisions from day one, according to staff members of the Macon County Solid Waste Management Department in western North Carolina. The agency operates a recycling plant in a facility originally designed to bale incoming materials. More recently, the building has undergone significant transformations centered around one machine: a SENNEBOGEN telehandler (telescopic handler).

Sponsored Content

SENNEBOGEN 340G telehandler improves the view in Macon County, NC

An elevated cab is one of several features improving operational efficiency at the Macon County Solid Waste Management agency in North Carolina. When it comes to waste management, efficiency, safety and reliability are priorities driving decisions from day one, according to staff members of the Macon County Solid Waste Management Department in western North Carolina. The agency operates a recycling plant in a facility originally designed to bale incoming materials. More recently, the building has undergone significant transformations centered around one machine: a SENNEBOGEN telehandler (telescopic handler).

Sponsored Content

SENNEBOGEN 340G telehandler improves the view in Macon County, NC

An elevated cab is one of several features improving operational efficiency at the Macon County Solid Waste Management agency in North Carolina. When it comes to waste management, efficiency, safety and reliability are priorities driving decisions from day one, according to staff members of the Macon County Solid Waste Management Department in western North Carolina. The agency operates a recycling plant in a facility originally designed to bale incoming materials. More recently, the building has undergone significant transformations centered around one machine: a SENNEBOGEN telehandler (telescopic handler).

To Mexico’s north, the U.S. has reported similar modestly growing steel output figures in 2018, with May’s figure of 7.11 million metric tons rising by 3 percent compared with the 6.90 million metric tons produced in May 2017. Year to date, U.S. output is up by 2.8 percent, or nearly 1 million metric tons.