Brazilian Steel Association IBS has disclosed that domestic steel sales in Brazil rose 12.7 percent year on year to 1.6 million metric tons in April 2007 due to the demand from the construction and automobile sectors.
Domestic shipments rose 11.1 percent year on year to 6.2 million metric tons in the first four months of 2007.
On the other hand, steel sales to markets abroad declined 2.8 percent year on year to 823, 300 metric tons in the January-April 2007 period.
Crude steel production in Brazil amounted to 2.71 million metric tons in April, up 12.1 percent from a year ago. In addition, finished steel production increased 11.2 percent year on year to 2.1 million metric tons in April.