Brazilian sales of flats by local distributors in August declined 0.5 percent, year-on-year, but rose 0.9 percent, month-on-month, to 253,100 mt, the nation’s steel distributors association, Inda, said on Tuesday.
According to Inda, purchases of flat steel by local distributors in August totaled 264,600 mt, 20.5 percent up, year-on-year, and 18.2 percent up, month-on-month.
Distributor inventory in August improved 1.3 percent, month-on-month, to 883,300 mt. Inventory turnover in August was stable at 3.5 months.
Meanwhile, imports of flats in August increased 13.7 percent, month-on-month, but declined 53.1 percent, year-on-year, to 44,600 mt.
As for September, Inda expects both sales and purchases of flat steel to remain stable.