Usiminas Strengthened Its Focus on The Domestic Market in The Second Quarter

Brazilian flats maker Usiminas strengthened its focus on the domestic market in the second quarter as a focus on exports would have "negatively impacted" earnings, vp Sérgio Leite tells Steel Business Briefing during a conference call. During the April-June period, the firm sold 85% of its output domestically, up from 77% and 68% in Q1 and Q4 2010, respectively. "In Q3, we expect steel shipments to the national market to account for nearly 90% of total sales," Leite states. Total sales remained stable at 1.58m t during the quarter, while total sales for the first half slipped 8% to 3.17m t from the 3.43m t of flats products sold in the year-ago period. According to Usiminas, Brazil consumed 3.3m t of flat products during Q2, up 5% from Q1. Despite this growth, the mill notes that consumption dropped significantly in late June, without providing an explanation for the fall. The company's latest financial results and update show Usiminas produced 1.85m t of crude steel in Q2, up 4% from Q1. However, on a y-o-y basis, H1 crude steel output slipped 3% to 3.64m t. Usiminas says it has been accumulating slab inventories in order to assure a regular feedstock for its new 2.3m t/y hot rolling mill to be commissioned at Cubatão works in early 2012. The inventories will also help offset a planned BF stoppage at the facility during maintenance work slated for the second half of this year, SBB notes. Source: steelbb.com