According to the Brazil Steel Institute (IABr), Brazilian crude steel production in August this year amounted to 2.77 million metric tons, with a 1.1 percent decrease year on year. In the same month, Brazilian rolled steel output increased by 2.2 percent to 1.88 million metric tons compared to the same month of 2015.
Meanwhile, Brazilian steelmakers produced 20.34 million metric tons of crude steel in the first eight months of this year, down 10.6 percent year on year. Brazil's rolled steel product output totaled 14.01 million mt in the given period, down 11 percent year on year.
Brazilian domestic steel sales decreased by six percent year on year in August to 1.48 million metric tons, while domestic sales in the first eight months of this year totaled 11.09 million metric tons, decreasing by 12.9 percent year on year.
Brazil's exports of steel products in August amounted to 1.14 million metric tons, falling by 11.9 percent, with a value of $556 million, up 1.4 percent, both on year-on-year basis. Steel product exports in the January-August period of this year totaled 8.72 million mt, worth $3.5 billion, with an increase of 2.7 percent in volume and a fall of 21.7 percent in value compared to the same period of last year.
Meanwhile, the country's steel import volume in August this year amounted to 109,900 metric tons, decreasing 46.2 percent, with a value of $122.7 million, down 39.1 percent, both year on year. Brazil’s total steel imports in the first eight months of this year came to 962,800 metric tons, representing a 62.1 percent decrease in volume from the first eight months of the previous year, while the value of these imports in the given period totaled $1.01 billion, falling by 58.1 percent year on year.