Brazil’s flat steel distributors’ sales increased by 17.4pc to 290,500mt in June compared with the same month last year on higher demand for the material.
Flat steel sales reached 247,500mt in June 2019, Brazil’s National Institute of Steel Distributors (Inda) said. Flat steel product purchases also increased by 29.2pc to 297,200mt in June from 230,100mt in the same month last year.
Flat steel imports rose by 60pc to 103,600mt in June this year, from 64,700mt in the same month in 2019, while the inventory of the material inched up by 0.8pc to 855,500mt in June compared to the previous month. According to Inda, the current inventory is equal to 2.9 months of sales against a normal average of three months.
Steel sales and purchases are expected to increase by 15pc in July compared with June, Inda noted without disclosing volume.
In April, Inda said that during the first half of the year, flat steel sales are expected to fall by 35pc due to lower demand from the automotive industry because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Brazil’s crude steel production dropped by 22.6pc to 2.1mn mt in May this year compared with the same month in 2019, according to the World Steel Association.