Rio de Janeiro – Numbers made public this Friday (19) by the Brazilian steel industry organization Instituto Aço Brasil (IABr) show that monthly output remains on a downward curve. In July, raw steel production dropped 6% to 2.7 million tons from July 2015. Flat-rolled steel production fell 0.4% to 1.9 million tons.
Year-to-date through July, 17.6 million tons of raw steel and 12.1 million tons of flat-rolled steel were made in Brazil, down 12% and 12.7% from the comparable year-ago period.
The IABr also said exported amount was down 39% to 896,000 tons, with revenue plummeting by 38.3% to USD 403 million year-on-year in July. Year-to date through July, volume shipped went up 5.3% to 7.6 million tons, while revenues dropped 25% to USD 3 billion.
Steel imports stood at 112,000 tons, down 58.8% from July 2015 as domestic demand faltered. Imports value was down 53.1%. Year-to-date import numbers were down 63.5% in amounts and 59.8% in value.
Despite the weaker results, Brazil remains the leading raw steel producing country in Latin America. China is the single biggest global player.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
