Brazil-based steelmaker Gerdau expects the level of long steel sales in North America and the gap between ferrous scrap costs and finished steel prices to remain stable during the second quarter, when compared with January-March figures.
Gerdau chief executive officer Gustavo Werneck said the current spread was $422 per short ton in North America, an increase of $20 from the levels seen in January. Such difference is expected to be maintained throughout the second quarter."We do not foresee any big changes in ferrous scrap prices or [long] steel prices," Werneck said in a first-quarter earnings call...