CSN, Brazil’s sole producer of tinplates, is selling the product with thickness under 0.5mm for BRL3,636/mt ($1,404/mt), ex-works full taxes, stable in BRL over three weeks but slightly reduced in $ due to the exchange rate variation.
Due to the increased domestic demand, reflecting the local seasonal demand for steel packaging, exports in November went down by 56 percent to 4,300 mt, at an average FOB price 2 percent lower, $1,060/mt, according to the country’s ministry of development, industry and foreign trade, MDIC.
The main destinations of the product in November were Latin America (down 48 percent from October to 2,900 mt) and the EU (down 10 percent to 1,300 mt, while exports to the Middle East have reached a mere 113 mt, from 1,700 mt in October.
The increased domestic demand for tinplates, coupled to its high domestic prices, is fueling Brazilian imports of the product, whose volume has reached an all time monthly record of 2,300mt in November, at an average FOB price of $1,051/mt.