Brazil's "steel demand" in April is expected to decrease by 50% month on month

Recently, the Brazilian Iron and Steel Association said that it is expected that steel demand will decrease by 50% month on month in April, 40% in the second quarter of this year compared with the first quarter, and 20% in the whole year. In 2019, Brazil's apparent steel consumption was 20.6 million tons, a year-on-year decrease of 2.7%; crude steel production dropped to 32.33 million tons, the lowest since 2016 (30.2 million tons).

At present, the capacity utilization rate of Brazilian steel producers has been less than 60%, and steel mills are still studying further production reduction measures, and the capacity utilization rate is expected to decline.

Lopes, President of the Brazilian Iron and Steel Association, believes that at present, increasing steel exports will be the best choice for Brazilian steel producers. The Brazilian Iron and Steel Association has made a series of proposals to the Brazilian government to support the economic recovery, including the implementation of the export tax rebate plan.

Lopes revealed that the Brazilian Iron and Steel Association is seeking to increase the export tax rebate proportion of the steel industry from the current 0.1% to 5%, which will give related products a price advantage of 7% when exporting, and the export volume is expected to increase by 20%. According to the data released by the Brazilian Iron and Steel Association, in 2019, Brazilian steel producers exported 12.8 million tons of steel, a year-on-year decrease of 8.1%.