Gerdau SA announced Wednesday that net revenues for the third quarter of 2014 totaled R$10.7 billion (US$ 4.26 billion), a 2 percent growth compared to the third quarter of 2013. Net profit declined from R$642 million (US$ 255.4 million) to R$262 million (US$104.23 million) impacted by the financial result and the adherence to the Tax-Refis Recovery Program on profits generated abroad in the net amount of R$87 million (US$34.61 million).
Gerdau closed Q3 with a shipment volume of 4.6 million metric tons of steel, which is 4.5 percent lower compared to the same period last year. This was mainly due to lower demand for steel in Brazil and other Latin American countries combined with the growing entrance of imported steel into the region. Steel production, in turn, kept constant at 4.5 million metric tons.
During the third quarter, sales to the Brazilian market (not including units producing special steels) were 1.4 million metric tons, which represents a reduction of 11 percent compared to the same period last year. Exports from the country were 291,000 metric tons and showed a 21 percent decrease. In the United States and Canada, 1.6 million metric tons were sold, which is 2.5 percent more compared to the third quarter of 2013, especially with the evolution of the industry and non-residential construction.
In the other countries of Latin America (excluding Brazil), there was a 10 percent reduction in sales volume, going to 647,000 metric tons, due to increased imports in the region and the slower pace of economic growth. The Special Steel Business Operation, however, which includes units in Brazil, Spain, the United States, and India, maintained the same levels of sales as the same period last year, of 710,000 metric tons.
Sales of iron ore, in turn, reached 2 million metric tons, an expansion of 85 percent over the same period the previous year. Of this total, 1.3 million metric tons was directed to Gerdau's mills and 692,000 metric tons to the market.