According to the Chilean steel institute (ICHA), after an apparent steel consumption decline of 30.4 percent in 2022, during the first three quarters of 2023 the decline was reduced to 0.3 percent, from the same period in 2022, reaching 1.821 million mt.
ICHA’s executive director Juan Carlos Gutierrez mentioned that the apparent steel consumption trend has changed the pattern and is consistently showing small increases since June 2023. He mentioned that the main drivers for the recovery are the civil construction, mining and industrial sectors, which are giving signals of more investments in their activities.
The consumption of long steel products, however, remains in downtrend, with a decline of 10.6 percent during the first nine months of 2023 in relation to the same period in 2022, but the consumption of flat products increased by 9.3 percent under the same comparative basis.
Among flat steel products, the consumption of heavy plate increased by 29.8 percent, reaching 207,000 mt during the period.
For the total of 2023, Gutierrez expects the steel consumption to reach 2.379 million mt, a 3.9 percent increase from 2022, but for 2024, he believes that the consumption should decline by 0.6 percent from 2023.