Brazil distributors association Inda says 2014 will end with a negative balance for the nation’s steel industry, according to information made available on December issue of Inda’s magazine.
The trade group, which has been pessimistic about the sales of steel in 2014, said 2014 began “well” until February. Just after the second month of the year, market started to worsen and, as a result, Inda needed to downgrade its forecasts for the year.
“By the end of the first half of the year, we forecast a 3 percent fall [in steel distribution]. Third quarter’s numbers were bad compared to 2013, about 11 percent lower,” said Carlos Loureiro, Inda’s president.
“From January to September, numbers fell by 1.8 percent, year on year. And the end of fourth quarter won’t be different,” he said, adding that there won’t be any growth in steel distribution in December, as it is typically a “weak month”.
“Today, we believe our 3 percent decline estimate will reach 6 percent,” Loureiro said. He attributed the weak performance of the steel sector to the World Cup and to recent October elections.
“Even with a bad scenario, the decline in steel distribution will be lower than that of steel mills, which are expecting a two-digit decrease in the domestic market,” he said.