Crude steel production in Argentina reached 439,600 mt in December, against 459,000 mt in November, according to country’s steel association Acero Argentino.
Under the same comparative basis, the production of HRC increased by 3.4 percent to 180,900 mt, while the production of CRC increased by 31.6 percent to 112,900 mt and the production of long products declined by 8.6 percent to 198,400 mt.
For the total of 2022 in relation to 2021, the production of crude steel increased by 4.5 percent to 5.093 million mt, the production of HRC declined by 10.5 percent to 2,248 million mt, the production of CRC declined by 12.8 percent to 1.242 million mt, and the production of long products increased by 5.9 percent to 2.387 million mt.
According to Acero Argentino, the main drivers for the steel consumption in 2022 were civil construction, automotive, machinery and agriculture equipment and energy sectors.
The association warned that difficulties remain for the import of semifinished products required by the steel production chain, although the problems for the import of raw materials, derived from the shortage of foreign currencies, were solved in most of the cases.