Brazil’s steel industry has announced investments in expansion and plans to revive factories that have been idle since 2014.
Marco Polo de Mello Lopes, president of the Brazil Steel Association (IABr), stated that demand is at its highest in eight years and the sector, with capacity utilization of 73.5pc.
Lopes added to the media on Aug 16 that supply is normalized and steel mills are producing at a higher rate than pre-pandemic levels. Production expanded 24pc compared to the same period in 2020. Domestic sales reached 11mn mt, an increase of 43.9pc and apparent consumption reached 12.7mn mt in six months, a 48.9pc increase over the same half of 2020.
Lopes forecasts steel production should grow 14pc to 32.4mn mt and sales should rise 18.5pc to reach the highest level since 2003. Crude steel production will be the largest in history; apparent consumption and domestic sales the highest since 2013. In order to meet the expected domestic demand expansion of 24.1pc, the sector is embarking on a new investment cycle from 2021 to 2025.