With a volume a 31 million tons, the national production of crude steel decreased 4.9% in comparison with 2019. The drop can be attributed to the pandemic Covid-19, that reduced the activities of the steel park in the country. At the height of the health crisis, 13 blast furnaces were turned off, with seven equipment paralyzed in Minas Gerais.
On the other hand, domestic sales reached 19.2 million tons in the last year, an increase of 2.4% compared to 2019. The apparent national consumption of steel products reached 21,2 million tons, elevation of 1.2% on the same comparative basis, while de exports added up to 10,7 million tons, what means a retraction of 16.1% in a confrontation of the shipments in 2019.
Un accordance to Instituto Aço Brasil, perspectives for 2021 are that the sales will grow 5% in relation to 2020 and the consumption of steel products will increase almost 6% over last year. (DIÁRIO DO COMÉRCIO- Jan 19/2021).
