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* AM Calvert is major importer of Brazilian slabs
* High market premiums attracting imports into Brazil
* Strong domestic sales seen for March

Brazilian steel slab exports to the US are not expected to fall despite the imposition on March 12 of a 25% import tariff upon entry to the US, according to Carlos Loureiro, executive president of Brazilian Steel Distributors’ Institute Inda.
If you create a tariff for everyone, trade continues and who’s paying is the US market, Loureiro told journalists in a March 20 press conference, noting that hot rolled steel prices in the US domestic market have risen 30% to around $1,050/mt on the back of the import tariffs.
Brazil will continue to export slabs to the US because the US needs those slabs and doesn’t have domestic availability, Loureiro said, adding that ArcelorMittal’s Calvert works in Alabama is a major Brazilian slabs importer.
Brazil exported 549,650 mt of flat products to the US in February, representing 86.4% of Brazil’s total flat products exports, government data presented by Inda showed. Of the total shipped to the US, 416,399 mt were slabs, with the rest being mainly heavy plate, hot and cold rolled coil and zinc coated products.
Brazil could nonetheless experience problems with its ample rolled products exports to the US, Loureiro continued, and for this reason the Brazilian government and mills are calling for negotiations in an attempt to reinstate the import quotas Brazil previously enjoyed for export of these products to the US, he said.

Domestic market firm

Brazil’s domestic flat products market, meanwhile, was firm in February, Loureiro said, with distributors’ average daily sales of 17,900 mt of products the highest of the last ten years.
Distributors’ sales for the month at 321,800 mt were 4.7% up from February 2024, while distributors’ purchases of 346,000 mt in the month were 7.8% up year over year. Stocks however continued above desirable levels, at 1.06 million mt, equivalent to 3.3 months’ consumption, the Inda president said.
Strong performance is expected to continue in March, with distributors’ purchases and sales both expected to rise 3.8% over February levels, Loureiro said.

Imports still rising

Following record levels in 2024, flat product imports continued to be high in February. Imports of 211,000 mt in the month were 8.4% higher than in February 2024, with Chinese material accounting for 84.3% of the total imports of finished products, government figures showed.
We’re set for another 3-4 months yet of large import volumes, Loureiro said, noting that high Brazilian domestic market premiums – currently of as much as 28% over import prices for hot rolled coil – are attracting high import tonnages.
The Brazilian government recently announced that it had found evidence of dumping in imports into Brazil of cold-rolled products from China—following a complaint brought by CSN—but as the government has not yet announced the dumping level, no dumping tariff has yet become effective, Loureiro noted.