The Brazilian Steel Institute reported Monday that steel production in the country fell to 2.9 million tons in October, a 2.7 percent decline from the same period a year ago. Still, for the first 10 months of 2011, raw steel production is up 6.7 percent compared to the January to October period in 2010. Additionally, domestic steel sales in Brazil rose 13 percent year-on-year in October.
Steel imports into Brazil totaled 3.1 million tons for the first 10 months of this year, down a substantial 38.3 percent from last year. Meanwhile, steel exports surged 31.8 percent for the first 10 months of the year in terms of volume but swelled 61.2 percent in terms of value.