The value of iron ore imports to the Mexican steel market increased in August by 3.8 percent, year-over-year, to $60.2 billion. For the same month, 2024 is an all-time record, according to a SteelOrbis analysis of data from the national statistics agency Inegi.
In the accumulated amount to August, $161.0 million were imported, a figure that represented a decrease of 43.8 percent or $125.0 million less compared to the January-August period of 2023.
In the beginning of 2023, the integrated steel company Altos Hornos de México (AHMSA) entered into paralysis due to insolvency and stopped producing steel and also stopped the extraction of iron ore.
In addition, since the last week of May (from the 24th) an ArcelorMittal mining complex in Mexico was blocked for 57 days by the miners' union of Congressman Napoleón Gómez Urrutia.
In the information from Inegi, there are no records of the export of iron ore.