Steel production falls 1.9% until May; Sector confidence hits year low
Brazilian crude steel production fell 1.9% in the first five months of 2026, totaling 13.4 million tons, compared to the same period last year.
The data was released this Friday (19) by the Brazilian Steel Institute and shows a sector still under pressure from an environment of weaker demand and uncertainty about the recovery of industrial activity.
Between January and May, domestic sales grew 0.9%, to 8.7 million tons, while exports increased 7.8%, reaching 4.4 million tons. Imports, in turn, fell 17%, to 2.4 million tons.
Apparent steel consumption totaled 10.8 million tons in the period, a drop of 4.1% compared to the first five months of 2025. According to the institute, the result was mainly influenced by the reduction in imports. Apparent consumption is an indicator that measures the supply of steel available for the Brazilian market, calculated by the sum of national production and imports, minus exports.
Comparing just the month of May with the same period last year, the numbers show a mixed scenario. Crude steel production increased 2.4%, reaching 2.8 million tons, while domestic sales grew 1.3%, to 1.8 million tons. On the other hand, apparent consumption recorded a strong drop of 14.1%, totaling 2.1 million tons. Exports fell 35%, to 645 thousand tons, and imports fell 55.4%, to 312 thousand tons.
The significant drop in imports occurs at a time when the Brazilian steel industry is trying to reduce the pressure exerted by foreign steel on the domestic market.
Over the last few months, the government has expanded trade defense mechanisms and renewed protection measures against imported products, a long-standing demand from national steel mills.
The sector had been warning that the effects of these measures would only begin to appear more clearly throughout 2026.
The May data is seen as a possible initial sign of this slowdown in import flows, although businesspeople still remain cautious in the face of uncertainties in the global economic scenario.
This caution also appears in executives' perception indicators.
The Steel Industry Confidence Indicator fell to 47.8 points in June, a decrease of 12.1 points compared to May. As a result, the index once again fell below the 50-point line, which separates confidence from lack of confidence, reaching the lowest level recorded this year.
The drop in imports suggests that trade defense measures are beginning to take effect, but they have not yet been sufficient to improve industry confidence.
The sector remains under pressure from a global scenario of excess capacity, especially in China, weak global demand and intense international competition. In Brazil, the apparent decline in consumption indicates that the problem is not only the entry of foreign steel, but also the weakness of domestic demand, in an environment still marked by high interest rates and uncertainty about the recovery of consumer sectors, such as construction, machinery and equipment.
Source: CNN