Brazilian steelmaker Gerdau saw its sales volumes go down by 22.90% year on year during the first quarter of 2019 after divesting operations in Chile, India and the United States throughout 2018, the company said in an earnings report published on Wednesday May 8.
The reported showed sales volumes of 2.99 million tonnes for January-March, compared with 3.87 million tonnes in the first quarter of 2018. Crude steel output also fell to 3.34 million tonnes, against 4.17 million tonnes in the same comparison.Gerdau completed the sales of its Chilean and Indian businesses, as well as rebar and wire rod units in the US, last year. Although the move reduced overall revenue, the remaining divisions reported higher margins for the company.Net sales value fell by 3.50% in the quarter to 10.03 billion Reais ($2.52 billion), from 10.39...