Industry

Due to industrial paralysis in the U.S., steel production plummet in North America

In May, sales of steel products to the United States dropped by 10.28 per cent. The U.S. and Canada also saw an alarming decline in production.
LPO (Monterrey)

The U.S. Census Bureau reported that during May, Mexico exported to the U.S. $188.598 million dollars in steel products. This figure represents a decrease of 10.28% compared to 210,203 million in the same month of 2019.

In the report released Thursday, the agency said that there was also a "considerable decline" in terms of export volume. In total there were 265,515 tons, representing a contraction of 13.14% compared to 234,680 tons last year.

Meanwhile, steel imports from the United States fell by 26.13% in May of this year. The numbers indicate that they only imported 1,388,836 million dollars, when in 2019 they had reached 1,880,263 million.

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As for the volume of U.S. imports, there was a drop of 13.58%. From 1,880,821 tons they went to 1,625,364. The agency expressed that these numbers led to a drop in steel prices.

The figures released by the Census Bureau have a special impact on Nuevo Leon's economy, since it is the third state with the highest steel production in Mexico. In addition, the main corporations in the sector, such as Ternium, Villacero and Deacero, are based there.

In another analysis conducted by the international association of iron and steel industry, Worldsteel, it is mentioned that in May Mexico produced 13.2% less tons of crude steel compared to 2019. This year it was only 1.45 million.

The main reason for the low numbers has to do with the operational slowdown caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. The impact has been shown in the latest reports from companies and independent agencies.

The institution also compared the numbers from the United States and Canada. Within days of the USMCA going into effect, these countries produced fewer tons of steel. Mexico's trading partners registered falls of 36.6% and 19.6% respectively. Figures presented by Worldsteel indicate that in May the U.S. manufactured 4.79 million tons of steel, while Canada produced 830,000 tons.