South America steel output on the up

South American crude steel production rose 6.8% year-on-year to 11.1Mt in the first quarter, according to the World Steel Association (Worldsteel).

Brazil saw crude steel output climb 4.8% year-on-year to an estimated 8.65Mt in the first three months of the year. Second was Argentina with 1.24Mt, up 24.9%.

Production in Venezuela fell 7.7% to 104,000t, while output in Peru increased 12% to an estimated 332,000t. Chile and Colombia reported estimated figures of 302,000t and 337,000t, up 1% and 5.7%, respectively. Ecuador's production reached 154,000t, some 9.1% higher.

Production in North and Central America, including Cuba, increased 1.9% to 29.5Mt in the period, including 5.11Mt in Mexico, which was 1.5% higher year-on-year.

Output from China totaled 212Mt in the period, up 5.4%. China accounted for 49.7% of total steel produced in the 64 countries taken into account by Worldsteel, which represent about 99% of global production.