Brazil has restored the export of pig iron

According to statistics provided by the Secretariat for Foreign Trade (SECEX), iron exports from Brazil in December 2014 recovered from the lows of the previous months. As a reminder, in November 2014, exports fell to six monthly lows.

In December 2014, Brazil's pig iron exports amounted to 371 thousand tons. The total volume of exports increased by 172 percent compared to November, when the export of pig iron totaled 136 thousand tons. Compared to exports in the same month of the previous year, total pig iron exports increased by almost 18.3 percent.

Pig iron exports from the country throughout 2014 amounted to 2.58 million tons. Exports declined 3.84 percent year over year compared to 2013.

The largest importer of pig iron from Brazil throughout 2014 was the US factories, which bought a total of 1.78 million tonnes. The Netherlands was the second largest importer. Imports of Brazilian pig iron to the Netherlands increased by 25.7 percent over the previous year and reached a total of 224 thousand tons.

In third place was Taiwan. However, imports of Brazilian pig iron to Taiwan fell sharply from the previous year. The fall was 33.4 percent, and the total volume of imports fell to 144 thousand tons. Hong Kong and Japan were also major importers. Pig iron exports to the EU region have declined significantly on an annualized basis.