The Latin American Steel Association (Alacero) predicted that steel consumption in Latin America will grow slightly by 1.1% in 2023. Due to slow GDP growth, steel demand will lag behind global average levels.

Alacero said that the current growth in steel consumption is notable in Mexico. Although its economic growth in the second quarter slowed down, its performance in the manufacturing industry was strong, mainly driven by related industries in the US.

Mexican steelmaker Ternium mentioned in February this year that it planned to invest US$2.2 billion to build a direct-reduced iron steelmaking plant with an annual capacity of 2.6 million tons, and expected to start producing slabs for the automotive industry in 2026.

According to statistics, though Mexico's crude steel production in March fell by 6.1% year on year to 1.46 million tons, its steel consumption in that month increased by 7.4% year on year to 2.77 million tons.