In Latin America, imports of rolled steel from China up 41 percent

According to the latest statistics released by the Association of Steel Producers (ALACERO), imports of Chinese rolled steel to the Latin America region grew by almost 41 percent during the first months of this year compared to the previous year.

Chinese exports of steel products to the region totaled 16.4 million tonnes in the first two months of 2015. South Korean imports totaled 2.1 million tons, accounting for 13 percent of total imports. In third place was Vietnam, which imported 1.4 million tons, which is 9 percent of the total.

At the same time, the total volume of imports of Chinese rolled products to Latin America in February fell sharply compared to the previous month. Imports totaled 625 thousand tons, down 42 percent from the previous month, when imports totaled 1.1 million tons. Imports recorded an increase of 6 percent compared to 588 thousand tons imported in February last year.

Among Latin American countries, Brazil remains the largest importer of Chinese steel products. Imports of Chinese steel to Brazil reached 271 thousand tons in two months, accounting for 16 percent of total imports in the Latin American region. Mexico came in second with a 15 percent import share. The country's imports of metal products from China amounted to 248 thousand tons. The share of Central America's imports reached 14 percent, about 243 thousand tons.

According to the ALACERO report, the countries that reported the largest growth in imports of rolled steel from China were Argentina (+ 792 percent), Cuba (+ 269 percent), Mexico (+ 163 percent) and Venezuela (+ 146 percent).