Sales volumes for flat steel distributors in Brazil grew by 18.10% year on year in April 2019, amid destocking while large importers lost market share, local distribution association, Inda, said this week.
Flat steel sales totaled 266,000 tonnes, up from 225,100 tonnes in April 2018. However, volumes were down by 15% compared with March's 312,900 tonnes, which was weaker than Inda's forecast of a 10% decrease, the association said on Tuesday May 21.Distributors sold 1.15 million tonnes in the January-April period, Inda said, which was an 11.9% increase on the 1.03 million tonnes sold in the same period in 2018. For May, Inda is predicting that sales volumes will reach 252,700 tonnes, which will be a down 5% on April's total but up 24.50% from the 203,000 tonnes sold in May 2018."Importers not affiliated with...