Brazil imported 35,300 mt of heavy plates in June, 45 percent more than in May, according to the country’s ministry of development, industry and foreign trade, MDIC.
The product, with more than 10mm in thickness, fetched an average FOB price of $726/mt, against $713/mt in May, pointing at a wide variety of prices according to different origins.
Austria shipped 33,000 mt of a product with a special grade, not produced in Brazil, to the pipe producer Confab, linked to the Tenaris group, at $726/mt, while India shipped 1,300 mt at $414/mt, Russia 766 mt at $542/mt and Germany 168mt at $877/mt, all FOB conditions.
Widely different prices were also seen in the country’s exports of heavy plates in June, with a one-off shipment of 5,600 mt to Vietnam at $278/mt, 2,908 mt to Latin American countries at $913/mt and 900 mt to the US at $761/mt, all FOB conditions.
According to analysts, the wide range of prices for both exports and imports reflects business opportunities in a market of high offer and reduced demand, rather than quality grades.
In the Brazilian domestic market, Usiminas remains selling the product of the basic commercial grades at the equivalent to $650/mt, FOB, full taxes except IPI, the same price in $ since mid-March.