Brazil’s iron ore shipments fell by 7.9pc to 31.3mn mt in August, from 33.8mn mt in the same month last year due to weak demand.
The value of iron ore exported from the country also declined by 27.8pc to $2.3bn in August, from $2.8bn in the same prior-year period, the country’s ministry of economy said in a statement on September 1.
Copper ore and concentrate exports from the South American country also decreased by 28.8pc to 70,117mt last month, from 98,588mt in August 2019. The value of these exports declined by 28.3pc to $141,511 from $197,585 during the same period under comparison.
On the other hand, Brazil’s aluminum ores and concentrates exports rose by 1.7pc to 485,275mt in August from 477,076mt in the same month in 2019, even though the worth of these exports declined by 9pc to $16,606 from $18,254 during the same period.
The Brazilian steel industry is currently operating at about 60pc of its production capacity due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Brazil’s crude steel production increased by 3.5pc to 2.59mn mt in July this year from 2.50mn mt in the same month last year, according to the latest Brazilian Steel Institute (Aço Brasil) data. Long steel production increased by 10.6pc to 809,000mt in July this year, from 731,000mt produced in July 2019.