According to the Brazil Steel Institute (IABr), Brazilian crude steel production in July this year amounted to 2.83 million metric tons, with a one percent increase year on year. In the same month, Brazilian rolled steel output fell 3.3 percent to 1.85 million metric tons compared to the same month of 2016.
Meanwhile, Brazilian steelmakers produced 19.5 million metric tons of crude steel in the January-July of this year, up 10.6 percent year on year. Brazil's rolled steel product output totaled 12.77 million mt in the given period, up 5.4 percent year on year.
Brazilian domestic steel sales increased by 3.2 percent year on year in July to 1.43 million metric tons, while domestic sales in the first seven months of this year 9.48 million metric tons, decreasing by 1.3 percent year on year.
Brazil's exports of steel products in July amounted to 1.07 million metric tons, rising by 19.5 percent, with a value of $553 million, up 37.2 percent, both on year-on-year basis. Steel product exports in the January-July period of this year totaled 8.4 million mt, worth $4.2 billion, with an increase of 10.4 percent in volume and a rise of 44.1 percent in value compared to the same period of last year.
Meanwhile, the country's steel import volume in July this year amounted to 204,000 metric tons, increasing 83.8 percent, with a value of $198 million, up 50 percent, both year on year. Brazil’s total steel imports in the first seven months of this year came to 1.42 million metric tons, representing a 66.5 percent increase in volume year on year, while the value of these imports in the given period totaled $1.27 billion, rising by 42.4 percent year on year.