In the first 10 months of the current year, Chinese finished steel exports amounted to 66.5 million mt, up 47 percent, and of this volume 6.7 million metric tons arrived in Latin America, up 54 percent, both on year-on-year basis, according to Alacero, the Latin American steel association. Thus, Latin America expanded its share from 9.7 percent to 10.1 percent in China's finished steel exports and ranked as the second biggest destination for Chinese finished steel exports after South Korea. In October alone, Latin America's finished imports from China increased by 51 percent year on year to 671,943 mt, decreasing by 10 percent compared to September.
In the first 10 months, China's main finished steel export destinations in Latin America were Brazil with 1.6 million mt, up 41 percent and with a 24 percent share of China's total finished steel exports to Latin America, Chile with 1 million mt, up 68 percent and with a 15 percent share, and Central America with 930,357 mt, up 58 percent and with a 14 percent share, all on year-on-year basis.
Meanwhile, in the same period, Latin America received 4.5 million mt of flat steel and 1.77 million mt of long steel from China.