Latin American steel industry/Modest growth expected in the near-term, but potential for future growth is promising if the region can shake 'negatives'

摘要

Latin America is strategically located near some of the world's largest iron ore reserves. The region is embracing state-of-the-art steel technology and-production costs are relatively low on a global scale. For example, it costs 180.00 dollars to produce a steel slab in Brazil compared to 267.00 dollars in the United States. With such advantages, one would expect Latin America's steel industry to be one of the fastest growing sectors in the world. This isn't the case. Latin America's share of world crude steel production is 5.6 percent, according to the International Iron & Steel Institute (IISI) and the figure isn't expected to change dramatically in the years ahead. "Latin America needs to open up its economy and become more competitive," a source told Coal Americas. "The region has a reputation of being politically unstable. Take for example, Bolivia, Venezuela and Peru. Few companies will want to invest there in the near-term. Chile and Mexico have done a good job of improving infrastructure, rationalizing taxes and creating stable regulations for business growth but together they only account for about 26 percent of Latin America's steel production."