According to the Brazil Steel Institute (IABr), Brazilian crude steel production in April this year amounted to 2.3 million metric tons, with a 20.6 percent decrease year on year. In the same month, Brazilian rolled steel output decreased by 20.2 percent to 1.64 million metric tons compared to the same month of 2015.
Meanwhile, Brazilian steelmakers produced 9.74 million metric tons of crude steel in the January-April period of this year, down 14 percent year on year. Brazil's rolled steel product output totaled 6.71 million mt in the given period, down 18.3 percent year on year.
Brazilian domestic steel sales decreased by 10.9 percent year on year in April to 1.38 million metric tons, while domestic sales in the first four months totaled 5.36 million metric tons, decreasing by 20.3 percent year on year.
Brazil's exports of steel products in April amounted to 1.01 million metric tons, rising by 59.9 percent, with a value of $383.4 million, up 6.2 percent, both on year-on-year basis. Steel product exports in the first four months of this year totaled 4.27 million mt, worth $1.57 billion, with an increase of 25 percent in volume and a fall of 26 percent in value compared to the same period of last year.
Meanwhile, the country's steel import volume in April this year amounted to 112,200 metric tons, decreasing 74.2 percent, with a value of $126.4 million, down 65.8 percent, both year on year. Brazil’s total steel imports in the first four months came to 480,300 metric tons, representing a 66.4 percent decrease in volume from the first four months of the previous year, while the value of these imports in the given period totaled $506 million, falling by 63.4 percent year on year.