Brazilia metallurgists concern the reduction of import duties

The Institute of Steel Brazil said that the decision of the Ministry of Finance of Brazil to reduce the rates of import customs duties per 100 goods, including steel products, will negatively affect the Brazilian steel industry. The Institute of Steel believes that the change in the current duties of duties on imported goods before the expiration of the established validity period does not comply with the norms of the law.

On August 1, 2013, the Ministry of Finance of Brazil announced that a decrease in importing customs duties will significantly increase the competitiveness of products in the markets and reduce inflation pressure. The new rules regarding the determination of the duties rate suggest that the rates of import customs duties will be significantly reduced to 8 - 12 percent compared to the current ones. These imports of import customs duties, declared in September 2012, amount to about 25 percent. New import duties in Brazil will enter into force on October 1 of this year.

Earlier, IABR expected an increase in production volumes by 5.8 percent and 7.6 percent in sales, and recently reduced the rating and sales for 2013, due to the fact that the plants were faced with the weakness of domestic demand and the influence of a particular cost currency. And after the administration of the President of Brazil Dilma Rousseff recently refused to increase the tax on steel imports, IABR believes that this can even more harm local factories. According to the members of the IABR group, the government argument that the weak currency could help compensate for the negative impact, is unlikely to help the industry and will impede imports.