Sao Paulo (Platts)--6Feb2013/453 pm EST/2153 GMT

Shipments of steel-containing products from China to Latin America reached $45.6 billion in 2012, up 11% from $41 billion the previous year, Latin American steel association Alacero said Wednesday.

The 2012 figure represented 7% of worldwide Chinese exports of these products, the association said.

During 2012, the main steel-containing imports from China were cars and commercial vehicles ($6.88 billion), office machines ($6.6 billion) and machinery and equipment ($5.4 billion). These three categories combined represented 42% of the indirect steel trade from China to the region.

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According to Alacero, the imports of steel-containing goods that increased most between 2012 and 2011 were railway products (+364%), cans and metal packing boxes (+139%) and boilers and steam generators (+131%).

The countries that received the highest volumes of steel-containing exports from China last year were Brazil ($11.2 billion), Mexico ($9 billion) and Venezuela ($4.6 billion). These countries represented 55% of the indirect trade flow from the Asian country to the region.

The Latin American countries that had the highest increase in their imports of Chinese steel-containing goods in 2012 were Venezuela (+48%), Mexico (+19%) and Chile (+17%).

--Adriana Carvalho, adriana_carvalho@platts.com
--Edited by Carla Bass, carla_bass@platts.com

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