Latin American countries imported 5 million mt of finished steel from China in the first seven months of 2015, 6% more than the 4.7 million mt imported in the same period in 2014, the Latin American Steel Association (Alacero) said Tuesday.
The region's share of Chinese exports, however, dropped to 8.9% from 10.7% in the same period in 2014.
Usually the second largest importer of Chinese steel behind South Korea, which imported 7.3 million mt in the January-July period, Latin America was also surpassed by Vietnam (5.3 million mt) in the most recent period.
Latin American imports in the period were mostly flat products -- 59% of the total or 2.9 million mt, a large proportion of which was alloyed sheet and coil (1.1 million mt), hot-dip galvanized (649,000 mt) and cold-rolled coil (461,000 mt).
Long steel imports totaled 1.8 million mt, of which 793,000 mt was rebar and 741,000 mt wire rod.
In July, imports fell 16% year on year to 590,000 mt from 705,000 mt in July 2014.
Brazil (837,000 mt), Central America (805,000 mt) and Chile (702,000 mt) were the main importers of Chinese steel in the January-July period, but the countries that saw the the largest increases were Argentina (421% to 93,000 mt), Cuba (233% to 99,000 mt) and the Dominican Republic (166% to 129,000 mt).
Decreases in imports were mostly observed in Brazil (down 33% to 837,000 mt), Colombia (down 14% to 381,000 mt) and Peru (down 13% to 481,000 mt).
The countries included the Alacero data comprise Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Mexico, Venezuela, and Central America (comprising by Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama).
