Mexico’s steel industry welcomed news that the US Senate approved the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), saying that the deal would boost steel production in the country.
In addition to increasing steel consumption, USMCA will curtail unfair trade, Mexico’s steel chamber (Canacero), said in a statement. In recent months, Mexico’s steel market has been impacted by lower demand for steel products from the construction and automotive industries.
Some steelmakers and mining companies recently announced halted operations at some of their plants because of low demand. However, they’re expected to resume once demand spurred by USMCA increases.
Mexico’s steel production declined by 3.6pc in October 2019 to 1.5mn mt. Steel exports from Mexico to the US fell by 11.8pc to 242,327mt in November 2019 compared to the same month a year earlier.