Brazilian steelmaker Usiminas sees the drop in domestic steel production and consumption, together with a slump in international iron ore prices, as the most serious challenges facing the country's steel industry.
"Tight margins give us no option but to stay focused on increasing efficiency and sales volumes, reducing costs and improving the quality of our products and services," said acting CEO Romel Erwin de Souza, during a conference call to discuss Q3 results.
Its mining unit's net revenue was down 47% to 107.4mn reais in Q3, quarter-on-quarter, due to lower sales volumes and lower iron ore prices.
Net revenue for Usiminas' steel business, meanwhile, dropped 8.3% compared to the previous quarter, mainly due to the higher share in sales of exports and an increase in the sale of lower value-added products, the company said in its latest earnings release.
"We're well prepared to face current market conditions, and hope to turn things around through cost adjustments, market knowledge and quality," the CEO said.
Brazil's steel industry has been facing a difficult scenario due to weaker consumption, low investment, high inventories and low consumer and business confidence levels, the company said in the release.
Source: Business news Americas
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