In February this year, Brazilian crude steel production totaled 2.6 million metric tons, falling by 6.8 percent compared to January this year and down 6.2 percent compared to February 2012, according to the Brazil Steel Institute (IABr).
Brazil's rolled steel product output totaled 1.96 million mt in February, falling by four percent month on month and down seven percent year on year. Of this total, the country's flat steel output stood at 1.16 million mt - falling 3.8 percent from January and down 5.7 percent year on year, while Brazil's long steel output amounted to 804,100 metric tons, falling by 4.3 percent month on month and down 8.8 percent compared to February 2012.
On the other hand, in the first two months of this year, Brazil's crude steel output fell 2.5 percent to 5.45 million metric tons, while its rolled steel output decreased by 2.8 percent to 4 million metric tons, including 2.4 million metric tons of flat products - down 0.4 percent, and 1.6 million metric tons of long products - down six percent, all compared to the corresponding period of 2012.
Domestic steel product sales totaled 1.67 million metric tons in February, down 1.7 percent year on year, while domestic sales in the first two months totaled 3.45 million metric tons, increasing by 1.3 percent compared to the same period last year.
Brazil's exports of steel products in February amounted to 815,300 metric tons, falling by 17.4 percent, worth US$510 million, down 26.3 percent, both compared to February 2012. Steel product exports in the January-February period of this year totaled 1.75 million mt, worth US$1.1 billion, with decreases of 4.8 percent in volume and 16.9 percent in value compared to the corresponding period of 2012.
Meanwhile, the country's steel import volume in February totaled 293,800 metric tons (US$308 million), with the total in the first two months amounting to 571,800 metric tons of steel products (US$673 million), representing a 13.1 percent decrease from the same period last year.