Alacero, the Latin American steel association, said that Latin America represented 10% of global exports of manufactured steel from China between January to May 2013, reaching 1.2 million tonne, 4% more than in the same period of 2012.
Between January May 2013, the main importing country of Chinese manufactured iron and steel products was Venezuela, with a 70% increase of these imports compared to the same months of 2012 and responsible for 18% on a regional level. Brazil was the second destination, with 200,596 tonne despite an 18% decrease compared with the same period of 2012 representing 17% of the Latin American total.
During January-May 2013, 231,558 tons seamless tubes were the most imported product from China. The second most imported products were welded tubes with 217,898 tonne.