Research and Markets: Brazil Metals Report Q3 2010

DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/1a5659/brazil_metals_repo) has announced the addition of the "Brazil Metals Report Q3 2010" report to their offering.

Brazil Metals Report provides industry professionals and strategists, corporate analysts, metals associations, government departments and regulatory bodies with independent forecasts and competitive intelligence on Brazil's metals industry.

The Brazilian steel industry has made a rapid turnaround and is set to sustain growth as capacity expands, but the country could cease to be self-sufficient in aluminium unless energy prices fall sufficiently enough to attract investment in new primary aluminium smelting capacity.

Brazilian metals industries are recovering at a fast pace due to the rapid rebound of the domestic economy. In the first five months of 2010, crude steel output rose 56.9% year-on-year (y-o-y) to 13.5mn tonnes, while rolled steel production grew 64.5% y-o-y to 10.8mn tonnes. Production growth was sustained throughout the period, indicating a long-lasting strong recovery. In May 2010, Brazilian crude steel output was up 5.5% month-on-month (m-o-m) and 50.8% y-o-y to 2.9mn tonnes while rolled production grew 5.2% m-o-m and 42.4% y-o-y to 2.3mn tonnes. The domestic market has supported growth in the Brazilian steel industry, with sales of 8.8mn tonnes in the January-May period, up 57.5% y-o-y. Apparent consumption of steel was 11mn tonnes, up 70.5% y-o-y. Export growth was more subdued and largely due to low base effects rather than a return to trend growth. Over the first five months, exports totaled 3.5mn tonnes valued at US$2bn, a 28.9% increase in volume and 21.5% in value. Meanwhile, imports soared 149.1% to 2.3mn tonnes, helping to narrow the country steel trade surplus. BMI forecasts crude output reaching 33.7mn tonnes in 2010, up 27.1%, while hot rolled output should climb 25.0% to 23.3mn tonnes.

Interest in the Brazilian steel industry has surged as the economy has recovered. In June 2010, the ThyssenKrupp CSA Siderrgica do Atlntico (26.9% Vale, 73.1% ThyssenKrupp) steel mill at Santa Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, was inaugurated. It has a production capacity of 5mn tonnes per annum (tpa) of high quality low cost slabs. The partners have indicated that slab output could be expanded to 6mn tpa in the future. In June 2010,the state government of Bahia announced that South American Metals, an association between the Brazilian group Votorantim and Chinese companies Honbridge and Xin Wen Mining Holdings Group, would build a US$2bn steel plant in the state with capacities including 7mn tpa of iron pellets. In May 2010, ArcelorMittal announced plans to invest US$1.2bn in Brazilian steel operations, including at its Joao Monlevade facility, thereby increasing production capacity to 2.4mn tpa by mid-2012. In April 2010, it was reported that Chinese steelmaker Wuhan Iron and Steel Co (WISCO) and Batista EBX Investment, owned by Brazilian industrialist Eike Battista, signed a joint venture (JV) deal worth up to US$5bn to establish a 5mn tpa steel mill at the Acu Port complex in Rio de Janeiro. The steel mill, which will serve Brazils automotive, shipbuilding and oil industries, as well as serving the Chinese market, is expected to be put into production within three years.

Key Topics Covered:

• Executive Summary
• SWOT Analysis
• Brazil Political SWOT
• Global Market Overview
• Industry Forecast Scenario
• Competitive Landscape
• Company Profiles
• Global Assumptions
• Country Snapshot: Brazil Demographic Data
• Methodology
• How We Generate Our Industry Forecasts

Companies Mentioned:

• ArcelorMittal
• Gerdau SA
• Vale
• Alcoa
• Companhia Siderrgica Nacional (CSN)
• Usiminas

For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/1a5659/brazil_metals_repo