It will take 15 years for the Brazilian steel industry to recover to 2013’s sales levels, the president of the directing council of the nation’s steel association, IABr, Alexandre Lyra, said on Tuesday during the Brazil Steel Congress, held in Brasilia, from August 22-23.
“The recovery of the Brazilian steel domestic market will be slow. Estimates by IABr show that we’ll recover 2013’s sales levels only in 2028,” Lyra said.
According to Lyra, the estimate is considered an “optimistic” outlook for the growth of Brazilian gross domestic product (GDP). Lyra added that the Brazilian steel segment currently operates at 63 percent of its capacity.
“We’ve shutdown almost 80 units since 2014, including blast furnaces, melt shops, and rolling mills,” Lyra said, adding the segment has also dismissed about 47,000 workers in the same period.
Lyra said the local steel segment expects president Temer will succeed in its proposed reforms. Already, the president has managed to approve a labor reform and is working on a pension reform.
“We hope they succeed in their proposed pension reform,” said Lyra.
“The biggest challenge [for Brazil] will be making its industrial activity grow, so the productive sector can resume on its role of propeller of the Brazilian economy. Companies and the government need to work together,” he said.