Latin American-focused steelmaker Ternium said this week revenues for its Mexican business segment in the full-year 2019 declined 13 percent, year-on-year, to $5.3 billion.
The company’s other two reporting segments also posted declining revenue figures. The Southern Region segment saw revenues in the full-year 2019 drop 12 percent, year-on-year, to $1.69 billion. Likewise, the Other Markets segment posted revenues of $2.8 billion, 5 percent down, year-on-year.
As for Q4, revenues fell 17 percent, 6 percent, and 16 percent for Mexico, the Southern Region and the Other Markets segments, respectively, all on a year-on-year basis.
Revenues for Mexico reached $1.1 billion. The Southern Region reported revenues of $444 million, while the Other Markets reporting segment saw revenues of $550.2 million.
“Following a challenging 2019, during which apparent steel consumption decreased in most markets in the Americas, steel demand in 2020 is expected to recover in Brazil and Colombia and to a lesser degree in the United States and Mexico,” the company said.
Ternium said it expects an “improving” steel market sentiment in Mexico in Q1 2020. In Argentina, steel shipments are expected to seasonally decline in Q1 2020 to similar levels as seen in Q1 2019, the company said.
“Steel market conditions for slab production at Ternium’s Brazilian facility recently improved, with an increase in seaborne slab prices and a decrease in raw material costs. Consequently, the facility is bringing production back to normal levels after decreasing it last year to reduce overall costs,” Ternium said.