Brazilian steel consumption up 30% in Dec, 1% in 2020

Apparent steel consumption in Brazil grew by 30.2% year on year in December and finished the year up by 1.2% overall, the country's steel association, Instituto A??o Brasil, said on Monday January 18.

According to A??o Brasil data, December consumption totaled 2.03 million tonnes, up from 1.56 million tonnes a year before.
Flat-rolled steel demand reached 1.23 million tonnes in December, up 31.5% from 937,000 tonnes in 2019, while long steel consumption hit 800,000 tonnes, a 28.3% year-on-year increase from 624,000 tonnes.
Full-year 2020 total steel consumption figures were 21.23 million tonnes, rising by 1.2% from 20.98 million tonnes in 2019, despite the challenges the steel industry has faced amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Between the end of March and the beginning of April, several mills were forced to halt production to balance supply with low demand due to the pandemic....

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