Brazilian steel mills raise flat steel prices

Brazilian steelmakers have announced increases in flat steel prices for order and delivery starting this week, local distributors said. According to the new price list, the price of hot rolled coils will rise by nearly 5 percent, cold rolled coils by about 6 percent and galvanized coils by 8 percent.

“The price adjustments will be the same for all suppliers,” said one distributor, citing HRC prices in the region of $ 760 per tonne, excluding taxes, after adjusting. “I understand that some of the costs of the smelters are in US dollars, and they were affected by the revaluation against the Brazilian real. But this part is more than offset by the sharp drop in iron ore prices last year,” he added.

Brazil is home to steel production facilities for manufacturers such as Usiminas, CSN, ArcelorMittal and Gerdau. The latter traditionally produces only hot-rolled coils. The anticipation of price increases encouraged distributors to make purchases in advance, "and with deliveries scheduled for the coming weeks, the products will already be at the new price," said an industry source from a service center in São Paulo.

Another buyer said he expected HDG prices to rise slightly lower, around 5 percent, as well as other products. “Let's see if we can bring these new prices to our customers and they drop the purchase, then our profits will be cut even further,” said a service representative.