Mexico’s crude steel production declined by 8pc to 18.6mn mt in 2019 from 20.2mn mt the year before due to reduced US-bound exports, according to World Steel Association (WSA) figures.
In December 2019, Mexico’s crude steel output totaled of 1.49mn mt, down by 7.3pc compared with the same month of 2018.
Between January and November 2019, Mexican steel exports to the US totaled 3mn mt, a 5.3pc decline compared to the same 11-month period in 2018. Shipments through the first 11 months of 2019 were valued at $2.4bn, which is 12.7pc below what they were worth during the same period a year earlier.
Mexican steel production decreased during a year considered to be one of the most difficult ever experienced by the country’s steel industry. In March 2018, US President Donald Trump imposed Section 232 tariffs of 25pc on steel and 10pc on aluminum, which remained in place until May 2019.