Brazilian crude steel production reached 2.523 million metric tons (mt) in February 2026, compared with 2,676 million mt in February 2025, according to the Brazilian steel institute IABR.
On a comparable basis, rolled product output dropped by 0.3 percent to 1.840 million mt, with the production of flat products increasing by 2.0 percent to 1.059 million mt, and the production of long products declining by 3.2 percent to 781,000 mt.
Similarly, domestic sales of steel products declined by 3.1 percent to 1.616 million mt and the apparent consumption of steel products increased by 3.1 percent to 2.167 million mt.
Exports increased by 55.2 percent to 1.191 million mt and imports increased by 34.2 percent to 629,000 mt. IABR said the sizable increase in exports reflects anticipation of shipments, which usually include volumes that are not effectively shipped during the month. Such deviations will probably be fixed over the next publications of SECEX, the foreign trade secretariat of the ministry of development, industry and foreign trade.
ICIA, the index assessing executive confidence within Brazil's steel sector, recorded a value of 49.3 points in March, declining by 8.3 points from January and returning to the pessimism mood among CEOs of the steel industry, with the index lower than the 50-point threshold separating optimism from pessimism.
Such negative mood, in the view of IABR, reflects pessimism (48.3 points) with expectations for the next six months, while there is moderate optimism (51.1points) with the current conditions of the Brazilian economy.
