Flat steel inventories in Brazil stood at 1.00 million metric tons at the end of December 2011, 16.8% below the levels of a year earlier, steel distributors' association Sindisider said late Tuesday.

Inventories at the end of December were 0.7% below November's figures, Sindisider said in a release. However, due to a slowdown in distributors' steel purchasing activity, the end-December inventories represented the equivalent of 3.1 months' consumption, higher than in the previous month, the association said.

Steel inventories in Brazil are falling in tonnage terms due to a fall-off in steel import levels into Brazil as local market prices have dropped, according to Sindisider. Steel imports fell 47.5% last year compared to 2010's record levels of about 5.9 million tons, the association said.

In Oct. 2010 Brazil's steel inventories had soared to record highs that were equivalent to 4.1 months' steel usage, bolstered by imports encouraged by a strong real and rapid market growth.

In recent months, inventories have remained high in terms of monthly usage due to a market slowdown and not because of high imports, Sindisider said.

Analysts from Barclays Capital and Flowcctvm Corretora said that the persistence of relatively high steel inventories in Brazil inhibits steelmakers including Usinas Siderurgicas de Minas Gerais SA (USIM5.BR, USZNY), Companhia Siderurgica Nacional SA (CSNA3.BR, SID) and ArcelorMittal Brasil (MT) from raising their flat steel products prices in the local market.

-By Diana Kinch, Dow Jones Newswires, Tel: 55 21 2586 6086, diana.kinch@dowjones.com

Grafico Azioni Arcelor Mittal (NYSE:MT)
Storico
Da Lug 2024 a Ago 2024 Clicca qui per i Grafici di Arcelor Mittal
Grafico Azioni Arcelor Mittal (NYSE:MT)
Storico
Da Ago 2023 a Ago 2024 Clicca qui per i Grafici di Arcelor Mittal