Rio de Janeiro – In December 2011, Brazilian raw steel production increased by 10.7%, compared with the same month of 2010, and reached 2.7 million tonnes. In the whole of last year, 35.2 million tonnes of raw steel were manufactured in Brazil, a 6.8% increase. The figures were disclosed this Thursday (19) by Instituto Aço Brasil (IABr).
In turn, rolled steel production, which stood at 1.8 million tonnes in December, a 6.3% increase over the same month of the preceding year, dropped by 1.1% in 2011, at 25.1 million tonnes.
In December, domestic sales increased by 11.3% compared with December 2010, and reached 1.6 million tonnes of steel products. In the whole of 2011, domestic sales grew by 3.4%, at 21.4 million tonnes.
As for exports of Brazilian steel products, 2011 was a good year, according to the IABr. The volume shipped increased by 20.7% (10.8 million tonnes) and sales revenues grew by 45% (US$ 8.4 billion), compared with the preceding year. Imports dropped by 35.9% and reached 3.8 million tonnes.
The IABr also informed that the apparent consumption of steel products grew by 5.2% in December (1.9 million tonnes), but dropped by 4.2% during the year compared with the preceding year, and stood at 25 million tonnes.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
