Brazilian flat steel exports continued to decrease in April, Kallanish learns from the Brazilian Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade (Mdic). According to the authority`s data, Brazil`s shipments abroad fell for the fourth consecutive month in 2018.

Brazilian flat steel exports were 173,400 tonnes in April, or -7.9% less year-on-year. Cumulative flat steel shipments abroad in the four-month period amounted to 863,807t, down by -11.6% compared to those in the same period of 2017. The export value of these was almost flat on-year at $612.9 million (-0.7%).

The main destination for Brazilian flat steel products was Argentina, which took 19% of the total, while Portugal took 12% of Brazil`s shipments. Exports to the US represented 11% of total Brazil`s shipments abroad.

During April, Brazil saw its exports of semi-finished products increase. The country shipped abroad 719,260t, up by 48.8% y-o-y. Cumulative shipments during the January-April period nevertheless, are still down by -4.8% over 2017 to 2.93mt. The export value of these year-to-date rose by 19.3% y-o-y in April to $1.47 million.

The main destination for the country’s semi-finished products was the United States, which took 52% of Brazil’s total semis’ exports, followed by Turkey (9.4%) and Germany (8.4%).