According to the Brazil Steel Institute (IABr), Brazilian crude steel production in the January-August period this year amounted to 22.62 million metric tons, one percent lower year on year. In the same period, Brazilian rolled steel output decreased by 5.3 percent to 16.62 million metric tons, including 9.39 million metric tons of flat products - down 5.7 percent, and 7.22 million metric tons of long products - down 4.8 percent, all on year-on-year basis.
Meanwhile, Brazilian steelmakers produced 2.95 million metric tons of crude steel in August of the current year, down 1.4 percent year on year. Brazil's rolled steel product output totaled 2.08 million mt in August, down 9.1 percent year on year. Of this total, the country's flat steel output stood at 1.18 million mt, down 8.9 percent year on year, while Brazil's long steel output amounted to 893,600 metric tons, down 9.5 percent compared to August 2013.
Brazilian domestic steel sales decreased by 21 percent year on year in August this year to 1.65 million metric tons, while domestic sales in the first eight months totaled 14.12 million metric tons, decreasing by eight percent year on year.
Brazil's exports of steel products in August amounted to 775,800 metric tons, rising by 33.2 percent, and were worth US$587.2 million, up 33.4 percent, both compared to August 2013. Steel product exports in the first eight months of the current year totaled 5.6 million mt, worth US$4.15 billion, with an increase of 2.1 percent in volume and a rise of 9.9 percent in value compared to the corresponding period of 2013.
Meanwhile, the country's steel import volume in August increased by 10.6 percent year on year to 373,100 metric tons (US$367.4 million), while total steel imports in the first eight months amounted to 2.76 million metric tons (US$2.85 billion), representing a 15.2 percent increase in volume from the same period last year.