Brazilian domestic flat steel product prices are around 20%-25% above imported steel prices, the president of flat steel distributors association Inda said Tuesday.
"For hot-rolled coil, the premium is around 20%. For cold-rolled coil, the premium is around 25% and galvanized goods, above 25%," Carlos Loureiro said.
Loureiro added that the exchange rate used for the calculations is Real 3.1/$1. On Tuesday, the exchange rate was Real 3.09/$1.
"With the current level of prices, if the US dollar continue devaluating against the Brazilian real, the domestic mills will have a problem with imports [going up]," he said.
As a reference, S&P Global Platts daily assessment for export Chinese HRC on Tuesday was $495-$500/mt FOB.
In January, Brazilian imports of carbon steel sheet jumped 270.7% year on year to 64,090 mt, up from 17,287 mt a year earlier, data from foreign trade ministry MDIC showed.
As published, hot-rolled coil imports totaled 7,406 mt, up 75% from 4,231 mt imported in the same month a year ago.
Imports of cold-rolled coil grew to 27,744 mt, up from 8,189 mt in January 2016, while imports of hot-dip galvanized sheet jumped to 28,940 mt from 4,867 mt.
