Instituto Brasileiro de Siderurgia reported that production of crude steel in November was 2.32 million tonnes, down by 19.8% MoM as compared to October.
This decline stems from the total or partial stoppages of some plants for maintenance of programs already scheduled or anticipated by the fall of the market, resulting from temporary stops have been announced by various sectors of steel consumers.
The combined production from January to November 2008 period is an increase of 4.2% YoY over same period of last year, reflecting the strong growth experienced until September.
Production for laminates from November at 1.73 million tonnes represents a decrease of 26% MoM. The example of crude steel, however, the combined production of 23.8 million tonnes still shows growth of 0.6% YoY over the same period last year.
Domestic sales of rolled steel in November reached 1.4 million tonnes, representing a decrease of 26% YoY over October. From January to November period, domestic sales of steel products to 20.9 million tonnes represented growth of 10.6% YoY over same period in 2007.
In November 2008, sales to the domestic market is valued at USD 441.6 million. With this result, the foreign sales from January to November reached 7.94 million tonnes, representing a decrease of 10.5% YoY. The value of foreign sales of USD 6.82 billion, however, represents an increase of 22.5% YoY over the same period of last year due to favorable conditions in the international market in the first months of the year.