The Latin American Steel Association Alacero has revised downwards its total consumption outlook for this year due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, high inflation, and an expected global economic slowdown. Still, a recovery is expected in 2023. After Latin America’s apparent steel consumption recovered by 27% to 74.8 million tonne in 2021, Alacero expects it to fall by 8% on average in 2022 as compared to a 2.1% drop projected at the start of the year. Alacero Executive Director Mr Alejandro Wagner said that “The revision is based on such factors as Russia’s war in Ukraine, China’s zero-COVID policy and the fear of world recession, especially in the US, due to high inflation. However, even with 8% fall, we will still have a higher volume of consumption than in years before the pandemic from 2017 to 2019, with 67 million tonnes reached in 2017-2018 and 64 million tonnes in 2019.”According to him, the impact of Ukraine’s war is stronger for Europe and the sanctions against Russia did not have as much effect on the Latin American market and in this scenario Latin American steel companies are looking for export opportunities, for example, in the USA and Asia, with still good prices, as well as within the region.
The Latin American Steel Association Alacero has revised downwards its total consumption outlook for this year due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, high inflation, and an expected global economic slowdown. Still, a recovery is expected in 2023. After Latin America’s apparent steel consumption recovered by 27% to 74.8 million tonne in 2021, Alacero expects it to fall by 8% on average in 2022 as compared to a 2.1% drop projected at the start of the year. Alacero Executive Director Mr Alejandro Wagner said that “The revision is based on such factors as Russia’s war in Ukraine, China’s zero-COVID policy and the fear of world recession, especially in the US, due to high inflation. However, even with 8% fall, we will still have a higher volume of consumption than in years before the pandemic from 2017 to 2019, with 67 million tonnes reached in 2017-2018 and 64 million tonnes in 2019.”According to him, the impact of Ukraine’s war is stronger for Europe and the sanctions against Russia did not have as much effect on the Latin American market and in this scenario Latin American steel companies are looking for export opportunities, for example, in the USA and Asia, with still good prices, as well as within the region.
