Mexico's iron and steel industry association known as Canacero said that growth in Mexican steel production will probably ease to 3% in 2012 as a US economic slowdown drags down the local economy.

Canacero expects steel output to grow by around 3.6% to some 17.3 million tonnes.

Mr Octavio Rangel director of Canacero told Reuters that he expected the pace of economic activity in the United States to ease in the second half of 2011. He said that "If there's a slowdown at the end of the year, we're obviously going to suffer as a result."

Mexico's industry is heavily dependent demand in the United States, as companies send 80% of their exports there. Analysts have begun revising down their forecasts for Mexican growth in 2011.

Earlier in 2011, a number of economists had seen Mexican growth of close to five percent, though many believe it may now even fall short of 4%.

(Sourced from www.reuters.com)