In a press release commenting on the expiration of certain restrictions on US HRC imports from Brazil, the Brazilian steel institute (IABr) highlighted the fact that a strong restriction persists, as the limits defined by quotas under the Section 232 remain in force.
According to IABr, an annual quota of 130,000 mt remains, of which 108,500 mt are for HRC and 21,600 mt for plates in coil.
In the view of IABr, such limits are low when compared to the volumes historically exported, as the determination of such volumes were defined by the US authorities during a period when the average export volumes were already reduced by restrictive measures.
Before the imposition of restrictions, Brazil usually exported around 300,000 mt of HRC to the US per year, with a peak of 527,000 mt in 2015.
