Latin America' s first quarter apparent steel consumption dropped 17% year on year to 15.4 million mt, the Alacero regional steel organization said.
Brazilian consumption fell the most, down 32%, or 2 million mt, compared with the same period last year, Alacero said late Thursday. Peru, Argentina and Colombia registered falls of 8%, 6% and 1%, respectively.
Chile, however, saw Q1 consumption grow 3%, or or 24,000 mt year on year. Guatemala also saw growth of 3%, or 8,000 mt, and Mexico kept the same volume year on year.
Out of the total consumed in Latin America in the first quarter of 2016, 50% was flat steel products (6.2 million mt), 48% was long products (5.9 million mt) and 2% was seamless pipes (219,000 mt), Alacero said.
Output of finished steel goods in the Q1 totaled 12.4 million mt, which is 10% below the volume produced a year ago. Brazil was the main producer with 5.1 million mt, followed by Mexico with 4.6 million mt. These volumes represent 41% and 37%, respectively, of the output in Latin America in the period.
Crude steel production reached 13.9 million mt, or 13% less than the first quarter last year. Brazil was responsible for 53%, or 7.4 million mt, of the total volume, a 12% year-on-year decline.
Imports totaled 5.3 million mt -- 22% below the Q1 2015 total of 6.8 million mt. Of the total, 65% was flat products (3.4 million mt), 33% was long products (1.7 million mt) and 2% was seamless pipes (106,000 mt).
"Currently, imports of rolled products represent 34% of consumption in the region, which brings about disincentives for local industry, trade frictions and threatens jobs," Alacero said.
Latin American exports reached 2.2 million mt, up 11% year on year. Of the total, 55% was flats (1.2 million mt), 37% was longs (827,000 mt) and 7% was seamless tubes (163,000 mt).
Latin America's trade balance registered a deficit of 3.1 million mt in the Q1. This "imbalance," Alacero said, is 36% smaller than the 4.8 million mt deficit in 2015.
Brazil was the only country that registered a surplus in trade balance, with 971,000 mt. The strongest deficit was registered by Mexico (1.5 million mt), followed by Colombia (670,000 mt), Chile (436,000 mt) and Peru (411,000 mt).
For April, Alacero foresees finished steel production of 4 million mt and crude steel output 4.3 million mt, down 12% and 17%, respectively, from April 2015.
