South American crude steel production fell 2.7% year-on-year to 17.7Mt in the first five months of 2019, according to the World Steel Association (Worldsteel).
Brazil saw output drop 1.5% to an estimated 14.0Mt in the period, while Argentina produced 1.94Mt, down 9.4%.
Production in Venezuela slumped 47.8% to 42,000t, while output in Peru rose 2% to an estimated 513,000t. Chile and Colombia reported production figures of 504,000t and 366,000t, up 9.9% and down 21.5%, respectively, while Ecuador's production reached 258,000t, a 6.3% increase.
Output in North and Central America, including Cuba, increased 3.5% to 51.2Mt, with production of 8.14Mt in Mexico, 6.3% lower year-on-year.
Production in China totaled 405Mt, up 10.2%. China accounted for 53% of total steel produced in the 64 countries taken into account by Worldsteel, which together represent about 99% of global production and reported output of 764Mt.
Source: bnamericas