Posted on 30 Oct 2019
The South American crude steel output encountered substantial decline during the month of September this year. The production statistics published by the World Steel Association (worldsteel) suggests 18% decline in regional output during the month. The output collapsed to 3.182 million tonnes (Mt) in Sep ’19, compared with 3.879 Mt in the same month in 2018.
The fall in output was mainly driven by Brazil- the largest steel producer in the region. The Brazilian output totalled 2.403 Mt, down by 22% from 3.081 Mt in Sep ’18. The country accounted for more than 75% of the total regional production. The second largest producer, Argentina, too reported 6.6% year-on-year decline in output from 435,000 tonnes to 406,000 tonnes. Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay too reported output declines.
ALSO READ: North American Crude Steel Output Slumped 5%
On the other hand, Venezuela doubled its production. The other countries to report year-on-year growth in output were Colombia and Ecuador. The steel output by Peru remained essentially flat over the previous year.
The year-to-date production until September recorded decline by over 7%. The South American production totalled 31.295 Mt during this period. The primary producers were Brazil (24.618 Mt), Argentina (3.579 Mt) and Peru (921,000 tonnes). The above top three producers together accounted for 29.118 Mt of steel, equivalent to 93% of the total regional production from January to September in 2019.
