Brasil perde espaço no mercado mundial de aço

Apesar de possuir as maiores jazidas de minério de ferro do planeta, e o ferro ser a matéria-prima principal do aço, o Brasil fica atrás de países que não tem ferro, como Japão e Coreia do Sul, ou com poucas reservas, como a China.

A China, aliás, que compra a maior parte de suas matérias-primas minerais no Brasil,  é atualmente o maior produtor de aço do mundo.

Com isso, o Brasil vem perdendo espaço no mercado mundial de aço. Em 2018, o Brasil respondia apenas por 1,9% da produção mundial de aço, contra 51% da China, 6% do Japão, 6% da Índia, 5% dos EUA e 9% da União Européia.

Em fevereiro último, a produção mundial de aço cresceu 4%, na comparação com o mesmo mês do ano anterior; a produção brasileira, no entanto, caiu 2% (ver relatório de fevereiro aqui).

Abaixo, alguns gráficos referentes a 2018.

As informações são do site da World Steel Association.

Abaixo, o press release com informações sobre a produção mundial de aço em 2018.

Global crude steel output increases by 4.6% in 2018
25 January 2019 Brussels, Belgium

Global crude steel production reached 1,808.6 million tonnes (Mt) for the year 2018, up by 4.6% compared to 2017. Crude steel production increased in all regions in 2018 except in the EU, which saw a 0.3% contraction.
MtAnnual crude steel production (in million tonnes)WorldRest of WorldChina
201120122013201420152016201720180500100015002000worldsteel.org

Asia produced 1,271.1 Mt of crude steel in 2018, an increase of 5.6% compared to 2017. China’s crude steel production in 2018 reached 928.3 Mt, up by 6.6% on 2017. China’s share of global crude steel production increased from 50.3% in 2017 to 51.3% in 2018. India’s crude steel production for 2018 was 106.5 Mt, up by 4.9% on 2017, meaning India has replaced Japan as the world’s second largest steel producing country. Japan produced 104.3 Mt in 2018, down 0.3% compared to 2017. South Korea produced 72.5 Mt of crude steel in 2018, an increase of 2.0% compared to 2017.

The EU produced 168.1 Mt of crude steel in 2018, a decrease of 0.3% compared to 2017. Germany* produced 42.4 Mt of crude steel in 2018, a decrease of 2.0% on 2017. Italy produced 24.5 Mt in 2018, up by 1.7% on 2017. France produced 15.4 Mt of crude steel, a decrease of 0.7% on 2017. Spain produced 14.3 Mt of crude steel in 2018, a decrease of 0.1% on 2017.

Crude steel production in North America was 120.5 Mt in 2018, 4.1% higher than in 2017. The US produced 86.7 Mt of crude steel, up by 6.2% on 2017.

The CIS produced 101.3 Mt, an increase of 0.3%. Russia* produced 71.7 Mt of crude steel in 2018, up by 0.3% on 2017. Ukraine produced 21.1 Mt of crude steel in 2018, a decrease of -1.1% compared to 2017.

Annual crude steel production for South America was 44.3 Mt in 2018, an increase of 1.3% on 2017. Brazil produced 34.7 Mt in 2018, up by 1.1% compared to 2017.

The Middle East produced 38.5 Mt of crude steel in 2018, an increase of 11.7% on 2017. Iran* produced 25.0 Mt in 2018, up 17.7% on 2017.

Turkey’s crude steel production for 2018 was 37.3 Mt, down by 0.6% on 2017.