According to the Brazil Steel Institute (IABr), Brazilian crude steel production in May this year amounted to 2.93 million metric tons, with a 13.2 percent increase year on year. In the same month, Brazilian rolled steel output rose five percent to 1.81 million metric tons compared to the same month of 2016.
Meanwhile, Brazilian steelmakers produced 14.07 million metric tons of crude steel in the first five months of this year, up 14.2 percent year on year. Brazil's rolled steel product output totaled 9.11 million mt in the given period, up 8.1 percent year on year.
Brazilian domestic steel sales increased by 3.4 percent year on year in May to 1.41 million metric tons, while domestic sales in the first five months of this year totaled 6.58 million metric tons, decreasing by 2.2 percent year on year.
Brazil's exports of steel products in May amounted to 1.45 million metric tons, rising by 20.8 percent, with a value of $752 million, up 69.8 percent, both on year-on-year basis. Steel product exports in the January-May period of this year totaled 6.1 million mt, worth $3.06 billion, with an increase of 11.5 percent in volume and a rise of 51.8 percent in value compared to the same period of last year.
Meanwhile, the country's steel import volume in May this year amounted to 233,000 metric tons, increasing 37.9 percent, with a value of $219 million, up 41.3 percent, both year on year. Brazil’s total steel imports in the first five months of this year came to 1.02 million metric tons, representing a 57.6 percent increase in volume year on year, while the value of these imports in the given period totaled $894 million, rising by 35.2 percent year on year.