The Latin American steel industry will face a decline in steel industry in 2025. This was discussed at the annual conference of the regional steel producers association Alacero, Urgente24 reports.

Steel production in the region is expected to decline by 2.5% year-on-year to 55.4 million tons, while rolled steel output is expected to decline by 3.5% year-on-year to 50 million tons.

Mexico, the second-largest steel producer in Latin America after Brazil, is forecast to show a 7.5% year-on-year decline due to uncertainty in trade relations with the US and increased US tariffs. Chile will see a 41.4% decline following the closure of the Huachipato plant. Brazil will see a slight decline of 0.8% y/y.

Imports in Latin America will reach 39.7% of total consumption this year, with China accounting for 45.4% of the total. This contrasts sharply with the lowest level of regional external sales in the last seven years.

«The steel industry in Latin America is experiencing one of the most critical moments in its recent history. Over the past 15 years, exports of rolled and semi-finished products from China to the region have grown by 233%, from 4 million tons in 2010 to 14.1 million tons last year. This avalanche of subsidized and artificially underpriced products has displaced local production, weakening industrial value chains and threatening 1.4 million direct and indirect jobs,» said Ezequiel Tavernelli, CEO of Alacero.

In June this year, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the Latin American steel association Alacero and the Mexican Canacero expressed concern about the critical situation of the region’s metallurgical industry.

The organizations emphasize that the region is facing an accelerated process of deindustrialization and needs to urgently implement industrial development policies that promote regional integration of value chains. Industry associations also point to the growth of Chinese metal imports.