A snapshot from Latin America: steel industry toward pre-pandemic levels

Alacero – Asociación Latinoamericana del Acero – has published its latest study regarding the economic trend in Latin American Countries. Overall, a heterogeneous recovery can be seen across the entire continent. After a strong upturn in consumption in all industries, especially in Mexico and Argentina, steel production reached pre-pandemic levels.



Here comes the data. In September, crude steel production has decreased by 2.5% compared with August. However, this decrease was only 0.2% in relation to September 2019. The manufacture of electric furnaces grew by 2.9% (2,408 Mt), while blast furnaces production slumped by 7.1% (2,278 Mt). When it comes to finished products, there has been a general increase in production: rolled steel rose by 4.6% thanks to the outstanding performance in Brazil, Mexico, and Peru; seamless tubes increased by 7.3%; flat products scored an increase of 6.7%; long products rose by 2.8%. In the previous month, the overall steel consumption in Latin America surged by 5.3%: flat products drove this recovery, accounting for 47.3% of the rise, together with long products (43.2%) and seamless tubes (9.5%). Now that the demand has been rising, value chains need to quickly rearrange and adjust. Francisco Leal, Alacero General Director, said: “The recovery in the countries of the region has been very varied, which can lead to an uneven return to normality and requires predictability, without panic, on the part of the consumer sectors so that steelworks can resume their operational levels.”

Despite these positive results, Latin America has a long way to go to achieve reliable stability. The steel market has been steadily recovering, but it is only working at 60% of the installed capacity—better than the 45% in April but far from the 80-85% needed for the ideal operating conditions.

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Quarterly crude steel production graph: Alacero.org