Brazil’s National Institute of Steel Distributors (Inda) reported a 33pc increase in flat steel sales to 373,800mt in August from 279,900mt in the same month of 2019, owing to a surge in demand.
Purchases of finished flat steel products also increased by 10.3pc to 308,600mt in August this year, from 279,700mt in the same month last year, Inda said in a statement on Wednesday. Meanwhile, imports fell by 33.9pc to 59,300mt from 89,800mt in the same period under comparison.
Inda expects sales to increase further by 8pc in September. Notably, the nation’s steel industry is operating at about 60pc of its production capacity in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Brazil’s crude steel production increased by 3.5pc to 2.59mn mt in July from 2.50mn mt in the same month last year, according to data from the Brazilian Steel Institute, Aço Brasil. Long steel production also increased by 10.6pc to 809,000mt in July from 731,000mt produced in July 2019.