According to the Brazil Steel Institute (IABr), Brazilian crude steel production in June this year amounted to 2.8 million metric tons, with a 2.1 percent increase year on year. In the same period, Brazilian rolled steel output decreased by 6.3 percent to 1.8 million metric tons compared to the same month of 2014.
Meanwhile, Brazilian steelmakers produced 17.1 million metric tons of crude steel in the first half of this year, up two percent year on year. Brazil's rolled steel product output totaled 12 million mt in the given period, down 4.8 percent year on year.
Brazilian domestic steel sales decreased by nine percent year on year in June to 1.5 million metric tons, while domestic sales in the first six months totaled 9.7 million metric tons, decreasing by 12.9 percent year on year.
Brazil's exports of steel products in June amounted to 1.2 million metric tons, worth US$571 million. Steel product exports in the first half of this year totaled 5.7 million mt, worth US$3.3 billion, with an increase of 46.1 percent in volume and a rise of 12.7 percent in value compared to the same period of 2014.
Meanwhile, the country's steel import volume in June this year amounted to 330,000 metric tons (US$283 million), while total steel imports in the first six months came to 2.1 million metric tons, representing a 4.3 percent increase in volume from the first six months of the previous year.