During the first 10 months of 2023, Brazil exported 617,900 mt of carbon steel scrap, 102 percent more than the 305,400 mt exported during the same period of 2022.
Considering only October, scrap exports increased on yearly basis by 281 percent to 77,400 mt.
The average export price of the Brazilian scrap in October 2023 was $354/mt, FOB conditions, against $333/mt in October 2022.
According to analysts, the sharp increase of scrap exports still reflects the lower domestic steel production, which for its turn points to lower domestic sales, which were in a large extent replaced by imports, chiefly from China and Russia.
Brazilian steel producers remain asking the foreign trade authorities to impose a 25 percent tariff for all steel imports, a request that so far has not been accepted by the authorities. Today, the import tariff for steel products in Brazil stands in the 9.6 to 12.8 percent range.