Finished steel imports from China to Latin America reached the record high of 1,9 million tonnes between January and March 2014, 95% more than the 951,938 tonnes imported in January to March 2013.

The region concentrated 11% of the 16,5 million tonnes of finished steel exported by China to the world during the Q1 of the year, which grew 31% compared to same period of 2013.

Brazil was the main destination for the Chinese finished steel with 522,694 tonnes followed by Chile (272,261 tonnes) and Central America (224,288 tonnes). The markets that notoriously increased their imports during the period YOY were: Paraguay (+233%), Brazil (+226%), Argentina (+174%), Mexico (+166%) and Central America (+115%).

Flat steel was the most imported product from China to the region during the Q1 of 2014, reaching 1.2 million tonnes. Among flat products, it is worth noticing the share of other alloey steel sheets and coils (445,194 tonnes) and cold rolled coils (287,009 tonnes), accounting for 24% and 15% respectively.

Long products imports from China reached 499,637 tonnrs in January to Mar 2014, wired rod (259,848 tonnes) and bars (183,862 tonnes). Also, the region received 134,066 tonnes of seamless tubes from China during the period.