A Brazilian distributor said it is importing A36 heavy plates from China as a way to meet client demand for plates of a specific thickness, despite the low volume of orders in the past few months.
"As Gerdau has shut down a heavy plate mill that used to provide us plates with a thickness of 120mm and higher, we needed to seek the product outside Brazil," a Sao Paulo-based source said.
The source’s comments come as Brazil increases plate imports. Recent data from the nation’s country’s ministry of development, industry and foreign trade, MDIC, show that imports of heavy plates in May rose 10.8 percent more than in April to 24,300 mt.
Despite not being the main origin for imported plates, Chinas has remained as an interesting option for a local distributor.
“We have a long-term contract with a Chinese supplier, which provides us heavy plates with thicknesses from 120mm to 450mm,” a distributor said.
As for the imported heavy plates the source is selling domestically, prices remained stable in June.
"We're selling ultra heavy plates with a thickness between 130 and 180mm at FOB BRL 2,094/mt, ex-works, no taxes included," the source said.
Another distributor in the state of Sao Paulo, which sells heavy plates from Usiminas with a thickness between 30.5 mm and 100mm, said it is selling the product at FOB BRL 2,460/mt, ex-works, no taxes included.
“We’ve been hearing from clients that the same imported steel is being sold domestically at BRL FOB BRL 2,300/mt,” the source said.
1 US$ = BRL 3.12 (June 29)