Sales of flat steel by Brazilian distributors declined 8.4 percent in April, year-on-year, and 15.5 percent, month-on-month, to 246,200 mt, the nation’s steel distributors association, Inda, said on Tuesday. A media report said April’s figures are the industry’s worst performance ever since 2006.
According to the association, purchases of flat steel by local distributors in April declined 11.1 percent, year-on-year, and 17 percent, month-on-month, to 242,300 mt. Inventories reached 902,900 mt in April. Inventory turnover rose to 3.7 months in April from 3.1 months in March.
Flat steel imports by Brazilian distributors dropped 68.6 percent in April, year-on-year, and 8.6 percent, month-on-month, to 46,100 mt.
As for May, Inda expects both sales and purchases of steel by local distributors to remain stable when compared to April.