Latin American crude steel production declined by 0.9pc to 4.85mn mt in February, from 4.89mn mt in the same month of the prior year.
Rolled steel production, on the other hand, increased by 2pc to 4.18mn mt in February, from 4.10mn mt in February 2020, the Latin American steel association (Alacero) said in a statement on Friday 16.
Latin American steel consumption climbed by 12.7pc to 6.09pc in January, from 5.40mn mt in January 2020, Alacero said without disclosing figures from February but noted that the steel consumption in January has returned to pre-pandemic levels.
Brazil and Argentina were the largest Latin American contributors to enhance their steel consumption in January compared to December with an 8.8pc increase to up 2.2mn mt and 10.8pc increase, respectively, it said without disclosing volume for Argentina.
Steel imports climbed by 5.7pc to 2.11mn mt in January, from 1.99mn mt recorded in January 2020, while steel exports fell by 27.3pc to 521,400mt in January, from 717,300mt in January the prior year due to the industry is focused on supply domestic local instead of shipping steel products abroad, Alacero noted.