Brazil produced 2.7 million mt of crude steel in June, 4.7 percent less than in July 2022, according to the country’s steel institute IABr.
Under the same comparative basis, the production of rolled products declined by 11.8 percent to 1.9 million mt, while the production of semifinished products for sale increased by 40.1 percent to 715,000 mt.
Exports declined by 13.8 percent to 828,000 mt, while imports increased by 78.5 percent to 481,000 mt, the domestic sales declined by 8.4 percent to 1.6 million mt and the apparent consumption of steel products increased by 0.8 percent to 2.0 million mt.
Considering the first seven months of 2023, production of crude steel declined on yearly basis by 8.6 percent to 18.6 million mt, production of rolled products declined by 9.5 percent to 12.8 million mt, production of semifinished products for sale increased by 16.7 percent to 5.6 million mt, domestic sales declined by 5.2 percent to 11.3 million mt, apparent consumption declined by 0.5 percent to 13.6 million mt, imports increased by 48.4 percent to 2.7 million mt, and exports declined by 6.2 percent to 7.1 million mt.
Analysts still ascribe the declining performance of the steel sector in Brazil to domestic prices in average 30 percent higher than international prices of the products after clearing customs, resulting in increased demand for imported products, reduced incentives for exports of finished steel products and reduced domestic sales.
The premium of the domestic product, in relation to the imported similar, is usually limited to 10 percent, to discourage imports by traders and consumers.
