Brazil steelmaker Usiminas expects a better demand for steel in 2015, as it prepares to be ready to meet that trend. According to news reports, the company is expecting a more favorable currency, which will benefit both steel exports and imports.
“There’s a projection of growth of 2 and 3 percent in steel consumption in 2015,” Romel de Souza, Usiminas interim president said to Brazil media this week.
With about one third of what it sells concentrated in the automotive segment, the executive said Usiminas is focusing in other segments, including noble steel, coated steel and lighter types of steel for cars. Other options the company is eyeing include materials for the seaside and oil and gas, as well as to the equipment sectors.
The company also plans to expand its iron ore shipments through the Sudeste port, whose operations are expected to begin in January 2015.
According to the president, it will begin with smaller ships (Panamax) and then with those like Capesize. “We had the potential to sell more this year, but the port limited it.”
Earlier this year, at steel event in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Usiminas CEO, Julian Eguren, said the Sudeste port was expected to be completed by the end of 2014 or the beginning of 2015. The port is located in the city of Itaguai, in the state of Rio de Janeiro, and should have a capacity to transport up to 100 million mt of iron ore. It is owned by MMX, Mubadala and Trafigura. MMX has a 35 percent stake in the project, while Mubadala and Trafigura own the other 65 percent.
Usiminas plans to expand its iron ore capacity from 8 to 12 million mt. However, to reach that capacity, the company would need to load at the Sudeste port the exceeding volumes of the product.