According to the Brazil Steel Institute (IABr), Brazilian crude steel production in May this year amounted to 2.5 million metric tons, with a 13.2 percent decrease year on year. In the same month, Brazilian rolled steel output decreased by 9.7 percent to 1.7 million metric tons compared to the same month of 2015.
Meanwhile, Brazilian steelmakers produced 12.3 million metric tons of crude steel in the January-May period of this year, down 13.9 percent year on year. Brazil's rolled steel product output totaled 8.43 million mt in the given period, down 16.7 percent year on year.
Brazilian domestic steel sales decreased by 10.2 percent year on year in May to 1.36 million metric tons, while domestic sales in the first five months totaled 6.72 million metric tons, decreasing by 18.4 percent year on year.
Brazil's exports of steel products in May amounted to 1.2 million metric tons, rising by 9.1 percent, with a value of $443.3 million, down 24.3 percent, both on year-on-year basis. Steel product exports in the first five months of this year totaled 5.47 million mt, worth $2.01 billion, with an increase of 21.1 percent in volume and a fall of 25.7 percent in value compared to the same period of last year.
Meanwhile, the country's steel import volume in May this year amounted to 168,600 metric tons, decreasing 45.2 percent, with a value of $155.2 million, down 45.1 percent, both year on year. Brazil’s total steel imports in the first five months came to 648,900 metric tons, representing a 62.7 percent decrease in volume from the first five months of the previous year, while the value of these imports in the given period totaled $661.2 million, falling by 60.3 percent year on year.