Brazilian heavy melting scrap producers (HMS) are benefiting from a growing number of exports compared to four months ago, a scrap exporter source told SteelOrbis. “Brazil’s domestic market for HMS remains weak, with a trend of increasing exports,” he said.
With Brazilian demand being weak and prices tending to decrease, local producers have been exporting more to compensate lower prices domestically. Sources tell SteelOrbis that about 40 percent of the HMS that is produced in Brazil is exported elsewhere. In late summer, that figure was closer to 25 percent. HMS is now being exported from Brazil at $325-$330/mt (BRL 865.80-879.12/mt) FOB including taxes, almost double the domestic price for December of BRL 450/mt ($168.91/mt), which has reflected a steady drop throughout autumn and early winter.
Other factor that’s impacting the nation’s domestic performance is Real’s (BRL) currency. Brazil’s Real currently equals $0.37 ($1=BRL 2.65), which also reflects a downtrend in the last few months.