Brazil exported 26,400 metric tons (mt) of hot-rolled coil (HRC) in August and imported 57,600 mt, up from 5,900 mt exported and 52,300 mt imported in July.
The sharp increase reflects 10,300 mt shipped to the US at $680/mt, a destination absent from the previous month's exports. South America remained the leading market, taking 16,100 mt at $583/mt. Both figures are on an FOB basis.
The exporters were ArcelorMittal (25,200 mt), Gerdau (1,000 mt) and Usiminas (200 mt, at $752/mt).
Imports came from Asia (56,600 mt at $510/mt, including 29,400 mt from Japan at $480/mt) and Egypt (1,000 mt at $574/mt), also on an FOB basis.
Sources said the US sales were an attempt to get ahead of the higher import tariffs recently imposed by the country, though it remains unclear whether the strategy succeeded.
