Latin America finished steel imports from China have increased 41 percent, year-on-year, in the cumulative period of January and February to 1.7 million mt, the region’s steel association, Alacero, said on Wednesday.
According to Alacero, Latin America accounted for 10.4 percent of all Chinese finished steel exports worldwide in the two-month period, a 1 percent decrease year-on-year.
In the first two months of 2015, Brazil and Mexico were the top three destinations for Chinese finished steel exports. Those countries received 271,000 mt and 248,000 mt of the product, respectively.
Flat steel accounted for 58 percent of all finished steel imports from China, which reached 991,000 mt in the January-February period. About 613,000 mt of long steel was imported from China in the same period.
In just February of this year, Latin America imported 625,000 mt of finished steel from China, 42 percent down month-on-month, but 6 percent up year-on-year. According to Alacero, the decrease is a result of Chinese New Year festivities.