Brazil is planning to raise its tax on steel imports, according to Christiano Freire, president of the Brazilian steel distributors' association Inda.
According to Mr. Freire, the government's idea is to increase rates of numerous non-taxed steel products to 12 percent as of March, and the expectation is that the government will impose import duty on hot and cold rolled steel products.
Mr. Freire predicts that the volume of Brazilian steel imports will drop substantially, also because of the high value of the US dollar versus the Brazilian real and due to the tight credit situation.
Brazilian steel imports consist mostly of heavy plates, hot and cold rolled sheets, and galvanized products. Mr. Freire mentioned that decreased imports would benefit Brazilian distributors as it would cut down on the excessive steel supplies in the market.