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Crude steel production in Argentina totaled 1.38 million tonnes in January-April 2026, up by 9.2% from 1.26 million tonnes in the same period in 2025, according to data from the Argentine Steel Chamber, Cámara Argentina del Acero (CAA).
The increase reflects a partial recovery from weak activity levels in 2024, when the sector was hit by a sharp downturn in construction, macroeconomic uncertainty and a drop in industrial investment, following the government’s fiscal adjustment program, reduced public works spending and tight credit conditions.
The result is a two-speed recovery: mills are producing more crude steel, but downstream consumption has yet to fully recover, with sectors that typically absorb large volumes of long steel constrained by limited credit, subdued public works activity and weak investment visibility.
This sets Argentina apart from a simple cyclical rebound: the sector is not only waiting for demand to return, but for a new demand engine to emerge.
The recovery at headline level also masks a more fragile underlying picture.
Finished hot-rolled output totaled 936,800 tonnes in the first four months of 2026, down by 14.4% from 1.09 million tonnes in the same period in 2025. Non-flat hot-rolled products – typically more exposed to construction demand – fell by 6.3% year on year to 467,700 tonnes from 499,000 tonnes, while flat hot-rolled products declined by 21.1% to 469,100 tonnes from 595,600 tonnes.
In April alone, crude steel output reached 375,600 tonnes, down by 3.0% from 387,400 tonnes in March but up by 18.4% from 317,300 tonnes a year earlier. Total hot-rolled finished steel output was broadly stable month on month at 255,500 tonnes, but declined by 23.2% from 332,600 tonnes in April 2025.
The divergence between crude steel and finished steel output highlights the incomplete nature of Argentina’s recovery, with mills producing more steel than a year earlier but still facing weak downstream demand.
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Argentina’s crude steel production has recovered from the lows of 2024, but remains well below levels seen in previous growth cycles.
The country produced 3.86 million tonnes of crude steel in 2024, rising to 4.14 million tonnes in the 12 months to April 2026, according to data from the CAA.
That remains significantly below historical peaks, including 5.61 million tonnes in 2011, 5.54 million tonnes in 2008 and 5.53 million tonnes in 2006.
This leaves Argentina’s current steel output roughly a quarter below the strongest years of the past two decades, despite the recent improvement in year-on-year comparisons.
A similar pattern is evident in apparent consumption.
Argentina’s apparent steel consumption reached 3.97 million tonnes in 2025, up from 3.37 million tonnes in 2024, but still well below 5.10 million tonnes in 2022 and 4.99 million tonnes in 2023.
This indicates that the market has recovered from the 2024 trough but has yet to return to demand levels seen before the sharp macroeconomic adjustment under President Javier Milei’s administration.
The weakness is most evident in long steel products, which are more closely linked to construction activity and infrastructure investment.
Apparent consumption of long steel fell to 947,000 tonnes in 2024 from 2.01 million tonnes in 2022, recovering only partially to 1.12 million tonnes in 2025.
This leaves long steel demand still well below recent historical levels, reinforcing market views that construction remains one of the weakest links in Argentina’s steel demand recovery.
Construction demand has been weighed down by reduced public works activity, limited credit availability, high financing costs and weak private investment appetite.
Federico Amos, chief executive officer of Acindar, echoed this view at an AmCham Argentina event in April, saying large infrastructure projects are unlikely to take off without access to long-term credit.
Amos identified infrastructure as a potential driver of Argentina’s next growth cycle – particularly in energy, logistics and technology – but noted that financing conditions remain a key constraint.
“Infrastructure is one of the sectors that could drive growth,” Amos said at the event.
These comments are reflected in the data: long steel consumption has yet to show the recovery needed to support a broader rebound in construction-linked products such as rebar, wire rod and merchant bar.
Without stronger credit conditions and clearer project pipelines, steel demand in Argentina is likely to remain driven by short-term purchases rather than sustained restocking or investment-led consumption.
Flat steel demand has shown more resilience than long products.
Apparent consumption of flat steel rose to 2.58 million tonnes in 2025 from 2.15 million tonnes in 2024. Though still below 2.80 million tonnes in 2023 and 2.77 million tonnes in 2022, the recovery has been stronger than in long steel.
This suggests Argentina’s steel rebound has been driven more by industrial sectors than by construction.
Flat steel products are more exposed to demand from manufacturing, automotive, household appliances, machinery and packaging. But even in these segments, the recovery remains uneven.
Data from Argentina’s statistics agency, Indec, showed that the country’s industrial capacity utilization rate rose to 59.8% in March 2026, from 54.6% in February and 54.4% a year earlier.
Basic metals industries, which include steelmaking, operated at 73.3% of installed capacity in March, compared with 64.3% a year earlier. Indec attributed part of this increase to a 17.1% year-on-year rise in crude steel output.
The same report also pointed to continued weakness in metalworking excluding automotive, where capacity utilization fell to 40.0% in March 2026 from 42.8% a year earlier. Indec identified this segment as the main drag, citing lower production of agricultural machinery and household appliances.
This helps explain why flat steel consumption has improved but has yet to return to levels seen between 2021 and 2023.
The recovery is also taking place alongside a renewed increase in steel imports.
Argentina imported 808,600 tonnes of steel products in 2025, up by 38.1% from 585,700 tonnes in 2024, CAA data show. Imports had previously reached 996,800 tonnes in 2021, 991,100 tonnes in 2022 and 932,600 tonnes in 2023.
Flat steel imports rose to 484,300 tonnes in 2025 from 375,000 tonnes in 2024, while long steel imports increased to 217,100 tonnes from 133,300 tonnes over the same period.
Fastmarkets’ price assessment for steel hot-rolled coil import, cfr main ports South America, was $665-710 per tonne on Friday June 12, up by $5 per tonne from $660-710 per tonne the previous week.
The rebound in imports supports concerns raised by local steelmakers over rising foreign competition, particularly from China.
Argentine steelmakers have repeatedly warned that the industry faces a combination of high domestic costs, tax burdens and competition from imported material, which they say benefits from subsidies or other unfair trade practices.
Market participants said the steel industry is again questioning what it describes as unfair Chinese competition and “distortive” taxes.
The sector argues that the challenge lies not only in weak demand, but also in the conditions under which local producers compete with imported material.
This concern is not unique to Argentina. Steelmakers across Latin America have warned that elevated Chinese exports and global oversupply are putting pressure on regional prices, margins and utilization rates.
But Argentina’s case is particularly sensitive because local demand remains below previous levels, meaning imports are rising while domestic consumption has yet to fully recover.
The concern has become increasingly visible in recent months. In early June, the Argentine Steel Chamber warned that local producers were facing competition from imported steel entering the country under what it described as unfair conditions, while also carrying a heavier tax burden than many international competitors.
“The problem is not only demand, but also the conditions under which domestic industry competes,” the chamber said in a statement, arguing that distortive taxes and unfair trade practices are undermining the sector’s competitiveness.
Unlike Brazil, Mexico and, to a lesser extent, Colombia and Chile, Argentina has not been at the forefront of the recent wave of steel-specific trade defense measures adopted across Latin America.
While governments in the region have increasingly resorted to anti-dumping investigations, tariff increases and quota mechanisms to curb import pressure – particularly from Asia – Argentina has largely focused on broader economic reforms and trade liberalization.
This has left local steelmakers exposed to many of the same import pressures seen elsewhere in the region, even as domestic demand remains below historical levels.
The Argentine steel market therefore appears to be in a transitional phase.
Production indicators have improved from 2024 levels, with crude steel output showing clear year-on-year growth. Industrial capacity utilization in basic metals has also risen, pointing to a recovery in steelmaking activity.
But the demand side remains weaker.
Long steel consumption remains deeply depressed compared with 2021-23 levels, highlighting continued weakness in construction and infrastructure. Flat steel has recovered more strongly, but industrial demand remains uneven, particularly in metalworking segments outside the automotive sector.
At the same time, imports have returned to higher levels, increasing pressure on mills already facing high domestic costs and a still-fragile demand recovery.
Looking ahead, market participants see Argentina’s next phase of steel demand recovery depending less on a rebound in traditional construction activity and more on investment in energy, mining and industrial projects.
For Argentina’s steel industry, the key question is no longer whether activity has improved from the lows of 2024 – it has.
The more important question is whether the recovery can become broad-based.
That will depend on three factors: the availability of credit for infrastructure and construction, the strength of industrial demand, and the government’s approach to imports and tax competitiveness.
Until those conditions improve, Argentina’s steel sector is likely to remain caught between recovering output, weak downstream demand and rising competition from imported steel.
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