The Brazilian steel institute, IABr, updated its expectations for the year, with apparent consumption of steel products reaching 23.3 million mt, domestic sales reaching 20.2 million mt and the steel production reaching 34.6 million mt, ranking 2022 as the fourth best year in the decade; however, when compared to an “atypical year” such as 2021, such figures are show a decline.
According to IABr, comparing to the pre-pandemic year of 2019, apparent consumption in 2022 increased by 12.5 percent and domestic sales increased by 9.5 percent.
Jefferson de Paula, president of the IABr board, mentioned that the results of 2022 are positive and reflect the strength of the Brazilian steel industry and its capacity to maintain a growing path.
The institute added that in 2022 exports of steel products should increase by 12.3 percent from 2021, while imports are set to decline by 34.1 percent to 3.4 million mt.
For 2023, the forecasts are for domestic sales increasing from 2022 by 1.9 percent, apparent consumption increasing by 1.5 percent, production of crude steel increasing by 2.0 percent, exports increasing by 2.1 percent and imports increasing by 2.3 percent.