Latin America ran a $24 billion deficit last year in trade of steel products with China, a 26 percent increase over 2013, the Latin American Steel Association, or Alacero, said.
Global prices for raw materials used in steel production, such as iron ore, coal and scrap metal, fell to historic lows last year, Alacero noted.
China, a net importer of those commodities, increased purchases of steel-industry inputs by 7 percent in 2014, but spent 13 percent less thanks to the collapse in prices.
While Latin America increased the volume of exports of iron ore, coal and scrap metal to China by 5 percent, sales tumbled 16 percent by value compared with 2013.
Chinese exports of laminated or structural steel to Latin America reached a record 8.3 million tons last year, up a whopping 56 percent from 2013.
Brazil, with nearly 2 million tons, accounted for 24 percent of the total.
Source: EFE
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