Sales of flat steel products by Brazilian distributors declined to 302,700 mt, in April, from 382,900 mt in March, according to the sector institute INDA.
Distributor purchases declined to 250,100 mt in April from 345,900 mt in March, resulting in a decline of inventories to 721,800 mt in April from 774,300 mt in March. The current level of inventories is equivalent to 2.4 months of sales.
Imports by Brazilian flat steel distributors reached 108,900 mt in April, against 125,300 mt in March.
According to INDA, expectations for May are for distributor purchases increasing by 14 percent from April and sales declining by 5 percent, and maintaining a stable level of inventories.
According to Inda’s president Carlos Loureiro, the price of HRC in the Brazilian domestic market is 20 percent higher in relation to international prices of the product.
He added that despite such high premium, imports of the product are not currently attractive, due to the high uncertainties derived from exchange rate variations and the logistics problems inherent to imports of steel products.