Brazilian crude steel production is expected to decrease by two percent year on year in the current year to 33.2 million mt, according to the Brazilian Steel Institute (Instituto Aco Brasil). This will be the lowest annual production volume recorded since 2010.
Meanwhile, in the current year Brazil’s domestic sales of steel products are expected to decline by 16.3 percent year on year to 18.2 million mt, the same level as in 2006. Apparent steel consumption in the country this year is predicted to total 21.4 million mt, down 16.5 percent compared to last year.
Instituto Aco Brasil stated that these figures depict the worst crisis in the history of the Brazilian steel industry, resulting from the structural and cyclical factors that have led the industry to lay off 21,786 workers from 2014 to 2015, by closing more than 40 production units.