The Brazilian Steel Institute (IABr) announced Monday that crude steel output rose to 3.3 million net tons (nt) in May, up 9.6 percent over April and a 14.7 percent jump compared to May 2010. Rolled steel production, on the other hand, fell 2.5 percent over last year. Despite a rise in domestic steel production in Brazil, steel consumption fell 6.8 percent year-on-year in May to 2.3 million nt.
Higher production domestically was largely attributed to less import competition. Compared to May 2010, imports in Brazil fell 42.4 percent to 284,600 nt. Brazil's steel exports surged 44.8 percent over the same period to 948,100 nt.