Regional steel output grows

South American crude steel production rose 7.9% year-on-year to 40.1Mt from January-November, according to the World Steel Association (Worldsteel).

Brazil, Latin America's largest producer, saw crude steel output climb 9.1% year-on-year to 31.5Mt in the first 11 months of the year. Second was Argentina with 4.24Mt, up 11.1%.

Production in Venezuela tumbled 32.8% to 319,000t, while output in Peru increased 4.9% to 1.12Mt. Chile and Colombia reported figures of 1.07Mt and 1.18Mt, up 0.3% and 0.5%, respectively. Ecuador produced 3.1% less at 512,000t.

North American and Caribbean steel output increased 4.7% to 106Mt in the period, including 18.3Mt in Mexico, which was 5.5% higher year-on-year.

Output from China, the world's largest steel producer, totaled 765Mt in the period, up 5.7%. The Asian nation accounted for 49.8% of total steel produced in the 66 countries taken into account by Worldsteel, which represent about 99% of global production.