The March 2019 crude steel production data published by the World Steel Association (worldsteel) points to notable decline in production by South American region. The regional production dropped significantly by nearly 10% from March 2018. It totaled 3.518 million tonnes (Mt), down significantly by 9.9% when compared with the production of 3.905 Mt in March last year.
The top two producers- Brazil and Argentina reported notable decline in output. The Brazilian production totaled 2.795 Mt, which is lower by 8.6% over the previous year. The country had produced 3.059 Mt in Mar ’18. The production by Argentina dropped even sharply by 30.7% from 474,000 tons in March last year to 328,000 tons in March 2019.
The largest year-on-year decline in output was recorded by Venezuela, whose output nosedived 65% from 23,000 tons to 8,000 tons. The other country to report lower production volume was Peru. On the other hand, Paraguay almost doubled its production from the previous year. Colombia, Ecuador and Uruguay too recorded significant increase in crude steel production from the previous year.
The production during the initial three-month period of 2019 totaled 10.495 Mt, down by 4.1% when compared with the Jan-Mar ’18 production of 10.947 Mt. Brazil (8.390 Mt), Argentina (1.017 Mt) and Chile (315,000 tons) were the leading producers in the region.
