Brazilian steelmaker Usiminas expects the realized prices for its domestic flat-rolled steel products to increase by 2-3% quarter on quarter on July-September 2019, chief financial officer Alberto Ono said in a conference call on Friday July 26.
The company and its competitors have been finding it difficult to readjust prices in the domestic market because steel demand has been persistently below expectations."We are still expecting an average 2-3% increase for the third quarter, because import parity has been under historical levels," Ono said. He calculated that domestic flat steel was around 4-5% more expensive than imports, while a 10% premium was still considered feasible.Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel hot-rolled coil, domestic, monthly, exw Brazil, was 2,517-2,565 Reais ($666-678) per tonne on July 5, stable month on month. This reflected discounts granted by mills, from 2,560-2,610 Reais per tonne on May 3.The price assessment for steel HRC, import, cfr main ports South...