【Ferro-alloys.com】:Mexican liquid steel production fell 1.6% to 18.2Mt and consumption 1.3% to 28.1Mt in 2022, affected by a weak construction sector and rising inflation, according to a report by iron and steel chamber Canacero.

December production fell 5.7% year-on-year, but consumption grew 6.1%.

Steelmaker ArcelorMittal’s government relations director Noé Galván told an industry event in early December that 2022 consumption would decline 3.8% and remain flat in 2023.

Mexico ranked as 14th largest steel producer of 64 reporting countries in 2022, according to Worldsteel, which also reported that global steel production fell 4.2% to 1.88Bt.

The US – the fourth largest producer after China, India and Japan – produced 80.7Mt, down almost 6%.

Finished products

Finished products output reached 19.5 Mt, 1.5 Mt more than in 2021 but consumption fell by 718,000t to 24.8Mt, according to Canacero.

Hot strips, coil plates, sheet plates, cold strips and seam tubes further increased production last year. Galvanized sheets, alloy steel flats, wire rods, cold sheets and bars saw the largest consumption drops.

In a sector study from November, BBVA wrote that construction – with direct impact on the steel sector – continued to slow down, but would grow 1% in 2023 thanks to civil works benefitting from large energy and transport infrastructure budgets.

Statistics office Inegi said the construction sector grew 0.4% last year.

However, prices of construction inputs will not fall in the short-term because of rising energy and transport costs and expensive credit as result of monetary policy, which would negatively impact investors’ confidence in the sector, BBVA wrote.

• [Editor:Alakay]