The Brazilian arm of ArcelorMittal announced the reduction of 1.3 million mt of finished steel products in the country this year.
According to the local press, the reduction covers all production units of the company, which produced 12.7 million mt of flat and long products in 2022.
At the Tubarão plant, its largest in the country, the reduction will include 20 percent of the slab production and 10 percent of the flat rolled production, but its three blast furnaces will remain operative, at least in the short term.
The reduction is reportedly attributed to the high volume of steel imports in the country, and the refusal of the foreign trade authorities in imposing a 25 percent import tariff for all steel products, replacing the current range of 9.6 to 12.8 percent, which in the view of the Brazilian steel industry is not sufficient to cope with subsidized steel products, shipped chiefly from China and Russia.