Latin American countries record 5 percent growth in Chinese steel imports

Latin American countries imported 5.7 million tonnes of total steel from China in the first eight months of this year. Shipments were up 5 percent over the previous year. Imports of finished rolled products to the region amounted to 5.4 million tonnes, which is 3 percent less than in the same period last year (APPG).

In August, imports of finished rolled steel from China to Latin American countries amounted to 712,000 tons. This is 21 percent higher than the 590,000 tonnes of finished steel that arrived in the region in July.

According to the latest statistics released by the Latin American Steel Association (ALACERO), the region accounted for 8.7 percent of all steel exports from China in the past 8 months. At the same time, the share of Latin American countries fell from 10.6 percent in the APPI.

The most popular type of Chinese rolled metal in Latin America is sheet steel, imports of which amounted to 2.9 million tons, or almost 50 percent of all steel supplies. The import of long products amounted to 1.8 million tons.