The Brazilian Chamber of Civil Construction (CBIC) has requested the federal government to reduce tax on steel imports to make up for a domestic shortage and contain prices of the metal.
José Carlos Martins, president of CBIC, did not disclose the percentage of tax reduction requested but noted that construction costs in Brazil rose by 11pc in January and 22pc in February, which has hurt the industry.
Brazil’s producer price index (PPI) for steel climbed as well by 14.9pc in January and February this year, and 45.9pc in the last 12 months, the Brazilian statistics agency said in a statement on Mar 30.
Brazilian construction companies are facing a shortage of steel products to develop their projects across the country, and the steel prices have increased, according to a survey among 206 construction companies. About 84pc of the companies consulted noted a shortage of steel products in the regions they operate, and 82.9pc pointed out that the metal has longer than usual delivery deadlines.
Brazil’s crude steel output rose by 3.8pc to 2.8mn mt in February, from 2.7mn mt produced in February 2020, according to figures from Instituto Aço Brasil. Brazilian steel imports climbed by 123.5pc to 333,870mt in February, from 149,397mt imported the same month as the prior year.
Brazilian flat steel distributors’ sales rose by 9.8pc to 312,300mt in February, from 284,600mt in the same month the prior year, according to figures released by Brazil’s National Institute of Steel Distributors.