By Alberto Alerigi
SAO PAULO (Reuters) – The month of May will be crucial for steelmaker ArcelorMittal to decide whether it will move forward with fresh investments in Brazil, its head in the country told Reuters on Tuesday, as it approaches the end of its current investment cycle.
The approaching deadline for the extension of trade protection measures adopted by the Brazilian government and the import tariffs implemented by U.S. President Donald Trump are relevant factors as ArcelorMittal mulls its next steps.
Steelmakers in Latin America’s largest economy have long complained of an unfair playing field, saying that China floods the market with cheap material and calling on the government to do more to control those imports.
The Brazilian government in April 2024 raised the import tariff on some steel products to 25% for a year, while adopting some surcharge-free import quotas, a measure that is due to be renewed at the end of this month.
It did not prevent, however, an increase in steel imports by the country, which rose 11% year-on-year in 2024 and reached in March this year the highest for any month ever, being strongly criticized by steelmakers as insufficient.
“We are finishing an investment cycle of 25 billion reais this year and have appetite for at least another 10 billion in the coming years,” said ArcelorMittal’s head in Brazil, Jorge Oliveira, referring to a cycle that began in 2022 and a second one that would run through 2029.
“The impact of imports is a reality that runs counter to the investment appetite of any group.”
Depending on Brazil’s position in defending the local steel industry, Oliveira said, ArcelorMittal may postpone or even cancel investments of up to 4 billion reais in the Tubarao plant in Espirito Santo state, which were announced in February.
“A first effect would be to postpone the project’s start date, and a much worse effect would be to cancel the project. We are at a critical moment,” Oliveira said, citing the possible impacts of a non-extension of the measures approved last year.
The executive said that the sector expects the government to “at the very least” extend the measures, but that the sector has been discussing “alternatives” to reinforce them as the current ones “were not sufficient”.
Other large steelmaking players in Brazil include Gerdau, Usiminas and CSN.
(Reporting by Alberto Alerigi Jr.; Writing by Gabriel Araujo; editing by Edward Tobin)
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