The Chilean steel production index fell 8% in March compared with the same month a year ago but was 6.7% higher than February, the country's National Institute of Statistics said Friday.
INE measures steel production through an index that includes operating blast furnaces, converters and rolling mills, as well as production of pig iron, ingots, ferroalloys and finished steel products such as angles, sections and bars. The institute does not publicly quantify actual production volumes, only percentage changes.
According to the World Steel Association, Chile's output was 100,000 mt in March, down 4.8% from the 105,000 mt produced in the year-ago month, but up 9.9% compared to February's 91,000 mt.
Chile's steel production index is part of INE's manufacturing index, which increased 1.9% year on year in March, and jumped 21.3% from February.
The manufacturing index is one of three components of the country's overall industrial production index, which dipped 8.3% year on year and fell 3% month on month in March.
INE's report also noted a 12.4% drop in iron ore production last month in a year-on-year comparison, but a 11.3% increase month on month.
