The price of wire rod in the Brazilian domestic market is stable for both grades, with the mesh grade at BRL2,803/mt ($974/mt) and the drawing grade at BRL 3,135/mt ($1,089/mt), CFR full taxes, a producer in the southeast told SteelOrbis.
Prices are stable in BRL since early January, but in $ terms the figure actually went down by 6 percent, reflecting exchange rate variations.
According to the source, sales in volume are 20 percent lower than expectations: “We established a pessimistic scenario of sales for January and February, but the reality was even worse than expected,” he said, adding that sales for all long steel producers were affected by the economic crisis in the country, as investments directly or indirectly linked to the official oil company Petrobras were put on hold, while authorities are investigating accusations of corruption in the company.
The source added that prices are set for stability over the coming months, as a possible reduction would have no significant impact on volume sales.
In January, Brazil imported 4,800 mt of wire rod at FOB $563/mt in average, and exported 19,500 mt at $571/mt FOB.
1 US$ = BRL 2.88