July 28 (LTIT) –The June 2020 crude steel production data published by the World Steel Association (worldsteel) points to significant decline in production by countries in the South American region. The regional production dropped by more than 30% from June 2019. It totalled 2.561 million tonnes (Mt), when compared with the production of 3.679 Mt in June last year.

The top two steel producers- Brazil and Argentina reported notable decline in output. The Brazilian production totalled 2.100 Mt, falling 27.1% over the previous year. The country had produced 2.883 Mt of crude steel in June 2019. The production by Argentina too dropped substantially by 41.4% year-on-year from 412,000 tons to 214,000 tons. The third largest producer was Chile, whose output edged lower by nearly 6% from 96,000 tons to 90,000 tons over the year.

Peru reported the largest year-on-year decline in output. The country’s crude steel production nosedived by over 63% from 109,000 tons to around 40,000 tons. The other country to report significant year-on-year decline in production was Ecuador, which saw its output drop by nearly 60%.

The cumulative regional production during the initial six-month period of the current year totalled 17.472 Mt, down by almost 20% when compared with the production of 21.808 Mt from January to June in 2019.