Maintenance stoppages still affecting Argentina’s steel output

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Monthly production reached 396,100 tonnes in September, Argentinian steel association Acero Argentino said late on Monday October 15.

“This figure is still influenced by delays in restarting some of the equipment that was affected by maintenance shutdowns in the previous month,” the association explained.

Including the reduced figure for September, accumulated crude steel production so far in 2012 is down by 7.5% compared with the first nine months of 2011, from 4.16 million tonnes to 3.85 million tonnes.

September’s output, however, was up month-on-month by 4.3% from 379,900 tonnes in August.

Production of hot rolled steel saw a small 0.2% increase month-on-month to 401,200 tonnes, but this was 9.5% lower year-on-year.

Cold rolled output fell by 19.7% month-on-month but increased by 3.6% year-on-year, to 98,700 tonnes, Acero Argentino added.