Brazil's flat steel distributor sales down 24% in July, Inda says

Sales volumes from Brazilian flat-rolled steel distributors were down by 24.01% on an annual basis in July 2021, due to clients increasing their direct purchases from steelmakers, national distributors' association Inda said on Tuesday August 24.

Many clients that traditionally bought directly from mills had resorted to buying from distributors during the Covid-19 pandemic, because steelmakers were not supplying enough to meet demand and distributors either had stocks on hand or were importing material, according to Inda executive president Carlos Loureiro, speaking in a press conference on Tuesday.
But supply from mills has now recovered and was back on an equal footing with demand, he added, driving those specific clients away from the distribution network and back to the producers.
Consequently, steel distributors sold 261,400 tonnes in July this year, less than the 344,000 tonnes of July 2020, according to Inda's data. The steepest fall was recorded in cold-rolled coil and sheet, whose sales totaled 36,200 tonnes, down by 35.70% year-on-year from 56,300 tonnes.

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