LatAm & Americas Steel "The Caster: Flats May Price Hikes Rolled Over fo..."

Research evidence excerpt

LatAm & Americas Steel "The Caster: Flats May Price Hikes Rolled Over fo..."

Global Research

22 May 2026ab

LatAm & Americas Steel Equities

Latin AmericaThe Caster: Flats May Price Hikes Rolled Over

for June in Brazil Basic Materials

Caio Greiner

Analyst

caio.greiner@ubs.com

Mills stepping back for May, full-on for June. Our industry conversations over the +55-11-2767 6294

past week indicate buyers pushed back on the 5-10% increases proposed for May.

Andrew Jones

Mills seemed divided on the timing of such increases, with ArcelorMittal, and

Gerdau lifting prices already for May, with Usiminas sitting out, and only expected andrew-i.jones@ubs.com

to make an announcement for June 1st; CSN appears to be on a wait and see mode. +44-20-7901 6545

Our channel checks with distributors and buyers have indicated that current

Arthur Biscuola

fundamentals did not support 2 consecutive price hikes (April and May); most have

Associate Analyst

pointed to a still weak demand environment and elevated supply-chain inventories. arthur.biscuola@ubs.com

Our understanding is that these price increases have been rescinded for May and +55-11-2767 6963

will all be rolled over for June, and all 4 mills are expected to follow suit. Despite

Alex Stansbury, CFA

the unfavorable demand environment, June price hikes should be supported by a Analyst

continued drop in imports and 5-10% import parity discounts . We do not expect alex.stansbury@ubs.com

any significant price moves for May, but do anticipate at least a partial +1-212-882 0097

implementation in June, which still comes ahead of expectations.

Domestic shipments gaining market share. On a separate topic, we would also

highlight the data released today by the Brazilian Steel Institute, which shows