According to Brazil’s steel industry association (IABr), the country’s crude steel production would face a fall of 8.2%, totaling 32.5 million tons in 2019. For 2020, the steel sector expected to recover part of this retraction with a 5.3% increase in production to 34.2 million tons.
According to Marco Polo de Mello Lopes, the president of IABr, the improvement in production was a big step for the country’s steel sector, but still below 34.4 million tons in 2017, and would only result in capacity utilization of 67% from current 60%.
Heading into 2020, the construction industry would be the engine of domestic steel consumption, especially long steel products, despite external factors such as global trade wars, foreign exchange movements, and raw material costs, all would continue challenging Brazilian steel sector.
Meanwhile, a more solid expansion in flat steel products depended on higher fixed capital investment, which would take longer to happen, but the automotive industry could contribute higher production volumes.