Rio de Janeiro – Brazilian raw steel production came out to 2.7 million tons in February, down 1.7% from a year ago. Year-to-date through February, raw steel output was up 0.5% from a year ago, to 55.6 million tons.
Industry association Instituto Aço Brasil reported this Thursday (21) that output dropped the most for flat-rolled steel, which was down 7.9% to 1.7 million tons in February, and 5.5% to 3.51 million tons in January and February combined.
Apparent consumption of steel products was 1.6 million tons in February, up 3.7% year-on-year, and 3.2 million tons in January and February, down 3.2 million tons year-on-year.
Instituto Aço Brasil also reported that domestic sales climbed 2.8% to 1.5 million tons. January and February combined saw 2.8 million tons of steel sold in Brazil, down 0.7% year-on-year.
Imports
Steel imports were up 28.5% in volume and 13.3% in value year-on-year in February, with 203,000 tons purchased and USD 205 million spent. In January and February, 350,000 tons were imported to Brazil, up 1.3% year-on-year, with expenditure coming out to USD 417 million, down 1.2%.
Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
