Brazil's ferroalloy exports declined 7% in 2014, says trade data

SAO PAULO (Scrap Monster): According to latest trade statistics released by Brazil’s Ministry of Development and Foreign Trade (MDIC), the country’s ferroalloy exports declined sharply during the year 2014.

The exports dropped 6.8% to 335,002 mt in 2014 when compared with the exports of 359,551 mt during 2013. However, the value of exports last year was up 17.5% year-on-year to $2.68 billion FOB when compared with $2.28 billion FOB during 2013.

The largest export destination of Brazilian ferroalloys was the Netherlands. The imports by the Netherlands totaled 53,580 mt, accounting for nearly 16% of the total Brazilian exports. The Netherland’s ferroalloy imports from Brazil dropped 22.3% year-on-year when compared with the imports of 68,969 mt during 2013.

The second largest buyer of Brazilian ferroalloys in 2014 was China. The imports by China totaled 42,042 mt during 2014, which is 25.9% lower when compared with the imports of 56,777 mt during the year before that. The value of sales to China remained marginally higher in 2014 over the previous year.

The country’s ferroalloy exports during the month of Dec ’14 alone totaled 26,913 mt. This is 25.3% lesser when compared with the exports of 36,030 mt during the same month a year ago. The value of exports during the month declined by 11.15% from $228.46 million FOB in Dec ’13 to $202.98 million FOB in Dec ’14.