Slab offers in the Brazilian domestic market are currently negotiated at a price equivalent price to export material destined to non-US destinations, $460/mt to $480/mt FOB, compared with $520/mt FOB one month ago, a local market source told SteelOrbis.
Today, the buyers in the Brazilian slab domestic market are Usiminas, Gerdau and CSN, while the suppliers are Pecem, Tubarao and Ternium, in a market currently estimated at 100,000 mt per month.
Usiminas has the steel producing area of its Cubatao plant idled and operating as a rolling plant since late 2015, while CSN and Gerdau are in the process of revamping blast furnaces in their Volta Redonda and Ouro Branco plants.
The Cubatao plant of Usiminas is also feeding on slab from the company’s Ipatinga plant, having imported 38,800 mt of slab at $481/mt FOB during Q1 2019.
According to Brazilian customs authorities, no imports of slab were registered by the country in May.