Crude Steel Production Surged 2.5% in South America
The crude steel production by South American countries rose by 2.5% year-on-year in January 2019, says the latest monthly crude steel statistics published by the World Steel Association (worldsteel). The production by the region totaled 3.647 million tonnes (Mt) during the month, as compared with the production of 3.558 Mt in the same month a year before.
The key steel producer in the region was Brazil with an output of 2.933 Mt, accounting for just over 80% of the total regional production. The Brazilian steel output was up by 2.3% over the previous year. The country had produced 2.866 Mt of crude steel in January 2018. The second largest producer was Argentina, whose output surged higher by 7.9% over the previous year to total 371,000 tonnes in Jan ‘19. In third place was Peru with an estimated production of nearly 100,000 tonnes. The country recorded stable production when matched with the previous year, worldsteel data said.
The above top three producers together produced 3.407 Mt of crude steel, representing more than 93% of the regional output.
Paraguay, Ecuador and Colombia recorded healthy growth in steel production when compared with 2018. The highest jump in production was reported by Paraguay, whose production skyrocketed by 44.2% year-on-year. On the other hand, Venezuelan output dropped significantly by 54.5% from 11,000 tonnes in January last year to meager 5,000 tonnes in Jan ’19. Uruguay’s output too dropped by approximately 20% over the previous year.
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