Alacero, the Latin American steel association, reported Friday that Latin America represented 10 percent of global exports of manufactured steel from China between January-May 2013, reaching 1.2 million tons, 4 percent more than in the same period of 2012.
Between January-May 2013, the main importing country of Chinese manufactured iron and steel products was Venezuela (215,790 tons), with a 70 percent increase of these imports compared to the same months of 2012 and responsible for 18 percent on a regional level. Brazil was the second destination, with 200,596 tons--despite an 18 percent decrease compared with the same period of 2012--representing 17 percent of the Latin American total.
During January-May 2013, 231,558 tons seamless tubes were the most imported product from China. The second most imported products were welded tubes with 217,898 tons.