The Brazilian steel sector accumulated a surplus of US$ 1.5 billion in the first half of the year from exports totaling US$ 3.8 billion and imports totaling US$ 2.3 billion. According to a report released on July 22 by IABr (the Brazil steel institute), exports had decreased in quantity (-13.7%), to 5.2 million tons, and increased in value (+28.3%) to US$3.8 billion compared to the same period in 2020. From January to June, imports grew 140.6% in volume, totaling 2.5 million tons, and grew 105.6% in value, to US$ 2.3 billion. Upon disclosing the balance of the sector, the president of the IABr, Marco Polo de Mello Lopes stated that the Import Tax rate should not be reduced in the face of threats to Brazil in the steel sector, “because of the large surplus of installed capacity in the world, which reached 562 million tons last year”. In his view, this enables “predatory practices, protectionist escalations, and degraded prices.”
Sources: Comex do Brasil/Datamar News