On Friday, Brazilian flat rolled steelmaker Usinas Siderurgicas de Minas Gerais SA, or Usiminas, reported a Q2 net loss of R22 million (US$9.82 million), an improvement over a Q2 2012 net loss of R86.5 million and a Q1 2013 loss of R122.7 million. Usiminas said the appreciation of the US dollar as compared to the Brazilian real impacted earnings, and caused an increase in debt-service costs, which were R276 million (US$122.5 million), up from R237 million in Q2 2012.
In Q2, Usiminas' sales totaled 1.57 million metric tons, compared to 1.88 million mt the same quarter a year ago.