Brazilian production of metal structures dropped 13 percent in 2017, when compared to 2016, Brazil’s Center for Steel Construction (CBCA), an entity overseen by local steel association IABr, said on Tuesday while releasing a study about perspectives for manufacturers of steel structures.
CBCA said production of metal structures in 2017 reached 697,000 mt, the lowest level since CBCA’s first study in 2011. Since 2015, there has been a decline in steel structures output.
“In 2017 there was a 50 percent decline in output when compared to 2014, when production reached its peak,” the CBCA report said.
CBCA attributed the decreased production of steel structures to the current political scenario and to the shutdown of several plants. Currently, Brazilian producers of steel structures have a combined capacity of 1.7 million mt, CBCA estimated. The sector operated in 2017 at 41 percent its capacity.