According to SECEX, the Brazilian foreign trade secretariat of the Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade, Brazil exported 148,164 tons of finished carbon steel products worth 108.128 million US dollars in February, and imported 442,557 tons worth 291.674 million US dollars.
For comparison, exports amounted to 301 210 tons. It is estimated at US$ 208.672 million, while imports of 332,806 million tons were estimated at US$ 238.633 million in January.
The large volume of imports was primarily due to coated flat rolled products from China totaling 261,500 tons. These shipments were expected to circumvent the anti-dumping duties imposed by the authorities on such products from China through the expected customs clearance.
February data indicate a commercial deficit of 294,393 tons, the highest in eight months, compared with a deficit of 21,596 tons in January.
In dollar terms, the deficit was $183.545 million in February, compared with $29.961 million in January.
The main exports in February in terms of volume were rolled steel (38.4 percent), wire rod (25.2 percent), rebar (13.6 percent) and coated flat rolled products (9.8 percent).
The main imports were coated rolled products (63.5 percent), rolled products (20.0 percent) and CRC rolled products (5.7 percent).
