Imports of Galvalume and similar products by Brazil reached 18,000 mt in July, the same as June, at an average FOB price 2.5 percent lower, $682/mt.
All shipments came from China, which in May had shipped 28,000 mt of the product to Brazil, the highest monthly volume so far in the year.
CSN and ArcelorMittal are licensed to produce Galvalume in Brazil, but the volume produced is not sufficient to meet the domestic demand, so the country is a net importer of the product with 327,000 mt in 2014, almost entirely from China.
A major distributor in the southern region told SteelOrbis that he is selling the product in the domestic market at BRL3,300/mt ($946/mt), FOB, full taxes except IPI, an increase in BRL by 3.1 percent from the price of one month ago, but in $ terms the price actually went down by 6.1 percent due to the variation of the BRL/$ rate.
Meanwhile, Brazil exported in July 8,200 mt of Galvalume to Argentina at $846/mt, and 400 mt of the product to the US at $628/mt, both FOB conditions.
1 US$ = BRL 3.47 (August 20)