According to the Brazil Steel Institute (IABr), Brazilian crude steel production in August this year amounted to 2.8 million metric tons, with a 5.6 percent decrease year on year. In the same period, Brazilian rolled steel output decreased by 12.6 percent to 1.84 million metric tons compared to the same month of 2014.
Meanwhile, Brazilian steelmakers produced 22.75 million metric tons of crude steel in the first eight months of this year, up 0.3 percent year on year. Brazil's rolled steel product output totaled 15.73 million mt in the given period, down 6.3 percent year on year.
Brazilian domestic steel sales decreased by 8.2 percent year on year in August to 1.6 million metric tons, while domestic sales in the first six months totaled 12.8 million metric tons, decreasing by 13.5 percent year on year.
Brazil's exports of steel products in August amounted to 1.3 million metric tons, worth US$548 million. Steel product exports in the first eight months of this year totaled 8.5 million mt, worth US$4.5 billion, with an increase of 51.7 percent in volume and a rise of 7.9 percent in value compared to the same period of 2014.
Meanwhile, the country's steel import volume in August this year amounted to 204,000 metric tons (US$202 million), while total steel imports in the first eight months came to 2.5 million metric tons, representing an eight percent fall in volume from the first eight months of the previous year.