The country’s steel industry ended 2021 with strong growth in volume of crude steel produced, domestic sales and apparent consumption, as expected, despite the sharp deceleration of indicators in the last month of the year. The data are from the Instituto Aço Brasil, which represents steelmakers.
In a year marked by strong domestic demand until July and an increase in exports in the second half of the year, steelmakers in the country produced 36 million tonnes of crude steel, up 14.7% from 2020. In rolled products, the sector reached 26 million tonnes, up 19.3% year over year.
The performance was also robust in domestic sales, which totaled 22.4 million tonnes, up 15% year over year. In the year of the pandemic, the sector was impacted in the second quarter, but saw strong steel sales from July onwards.
Also with a record, since 2013, apparent consumption (local sales plus imports) of steel products totaled 26.4 million tonnes, up 23.2% year over year.
Faced with a heated market and difficulties in meeting all demand from local mills, imports of finished material grew by 144% in the year, totaling 5 million tonnes.
With an increase in steel production and an accommodation of domestic demand – which was supplied from the middle of the year with domestic supply and the entry of foreign material –, exports rose and ended the year up 3.9%, totaling 11 million tonnes. Benefited from higher steel prices in the international market, they generated $9.3 billion.
In December, indicators focused on the domestic market lost steam due to macroeconomic uncertainties as of September: in the production of crude steel (-11.4%), rolled products (-16.8%), domestic sales (-24.7 %) and apparent consumption (-17.3%). Exports, on the other hand, gained momentum, with an expansion of 74.9% —1.3 million tonnes. Imports continued to expand, with 309,000 tonnes (up 49.9%). Sources say there is still a lot of steel in the ports waiting to be cleared.
Source: Valor international