LatAm & Americas Steel "The Caster: Mixed near-term for Brazilian flat..."

Research evidence excerpt

LatAm & Americas Steel "The Caster: Mixed near-term for Brazilian flat..."

Global Research

14 July 2026ab

LatAm & Americas Steel Equities

Latin AmericaThe Caster: Mixed near-term for Brazilian flat

steels Basic Materials

Caio Greiner

Analyst

caio.greiner@ubs.com

No ST price hikes… but no discounts either. Our recent conversations with industry +55-11-2767 6294

participants suggest there is limited room for further price increases in the near

Andrew Jones

term. Following the successful +5% price hike implemented in April, the May/June

increase was not fully absorbed, although a few distributors and clients did report andrew-i.jones@ubs.com

higher mill prices – Platts’ +3% price increase in late June seems reasonable. Mills +44-20-7901 6545

are now focused on “removing discounts,” which could eventually translate into

Arthur Biscuola

modest price increases over the coming weeks (with CSN seemingly taking a more

Associate Analyst

aggressive approach and hiking prices). The softer market environment is mainly arthur.biscuola@ubs.com

driven by two factors: lackluster end-user demand amid sluggish economic activity +55-11-2767 6963

and elevated inventories at importers and distributors. As a result, distributors are

Eduardo Woiciski Freire

reportedly offering discounts to end-users to reduce inventories and improve cash Associate Analyst

generation, limiting mills’ ability to push through additional price increases. That eduardo.woiciski@ubs.com

said, our contacts also indicated that demand has “stopped deteriorating”, with the +55-11-3701 6466

auto sector standing out as a positive highlight, supported by the government’s

Alex Stansbury, CFA

incentive program. Strong automotive demand could also tighten supply in the Analyst