Mexico [North America]: The latest figures show that the value of hot-rolled coil (HRC) imports declined for the tenth consecutive month in January, reaching a year-on-year decrease of 12.9 percent to 226 million USD. This figure is within the range of imports experienced in the past twelve months, which came in at 205 million USD.

The import value has been decreasing since April of last year and saw a deceleration three months ago. In November, the annual variation reached 41.1%. This figure decreased to 15.9% in December and further dropped to 12.9% by January 2023.

HRC exports in January 2022 dropped a staggering 76.9 percent year-over-year, to a low of $24.0 million - the lowest since September 2021. This sharp dip is attributed to an abnormally large increase in exports throughout the same period; they surged more than 18,000 percent - from $566,000 in January 2021 to an impressive $104 million in the following year.

The total trade flow between Mexico and the United States totalled $250 million in February of this year, representing a 31.2 percent decrease when compared to January. Imports accounted for 90.4 percent of the total, while exports took up the remaining 9.6 percent, resulting in a trade balance deficit of $202 million - an increase of 29.9 percent from the preceding month.