Posted on 11 Jun 2019
The latest statistics published by the Brazilian Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade (MDIC) suggests that the country’s flat steel exports touched fresh highs in May this year.
The country exported 648,280 tonnes of flat steel during the month. This compares with 175,120 tonnes exported during May 2018. Over the year, the exports surged higher by 270%. Also, the exports recorded a jump of 260% when compared with the prior month. According to MDIC, the country’s flat steel exports volume touched a new record high during the month, surpassing the earlier record of 415,510 tonnes of export during September 2015.
The cumulative flat steel exports by the country surged higher by almost 41% to 1.464 million tonnes during the first five months of the current year. The value of exports was up by 24% year-on-year to $925.2 million. The average value of exports of flat products during Jan-May ’19 stood at $623 per tonne FOB, considerably lower by nearly 12% when compared with the prior year.
The key export destination of Brazilian flat steel was Vietnam. The country accounted for 23% of the overall Brazilian shipments. In second and third place were the U.S. and Argentina, which accounted for 14% and 12% shares respectively.
Meantime, Brazilian exports of semi-finished products recorded a jump of over 83% in May to 829,450 tonnes. The shipments totaled 4.33 million tonnes over Jan-May ’19, whereas the value of exports totaled $2.18 billion. The exports averaged at $505 per tonne during the first five months of 2019.
