Latin American steel imports from China up 65 percent in the first half of 2014

The latest statistics released by the Latin American Steel Association (ALACERO) indicate that imports of finished steel products from China have grown significantly during the first six months of this year. At the same time, imports reached a record level in May 2014.

Imports of finished steel to Latin America from China totaled 4 million tonnes between January and June this year, up 65 from imports in the corresponding six-month period last year. Steel imports to the region in the first half of 2013 from China amounted to 2.4 million tons. The region has become the second largest Chinese steel export after South Korea.

The region accounted for 11 percent of total Chinese finished product exports in the period, up from 9 percent in the six-month period last year.

In June 2014, Latin America imported 647,080 tons of finished steel from China. Imports in June were down 25 percent from the previous month. Record imports in May 2014 amounted to 858,122 tons. However, imports were up 4 percent year on year, compared to imports of 569,427 tons in May 2013.

The countries that reported the largest increases in finished steel imports from China during the six-month period in 2014 are Paraguay (+ 242 percent), Mexico (+ 155 percent), Argentina (+ 120 percent) and Brazil (+ 84 percent).