Brazilian ferrous scrap exports rose to a record in 2025 because of weakening domestic demand, national recycling association Inesfa said.
Ferrous scrap exports increased by 28pc to 885,730 metric tonnes (t) in 2025 from 690,790t a year earlier, customs data compiled by Inesfa show.
Brazilian ferrous scrap suppliers linked to Inesfa limit exports to volumes that find no outlet in the domestic steel industry.
Rising competition from imported Chinese, Egyptian and Turkish steel weighed on domestic demand for feedstocks, Inesfa said.
Domestic ferrous scrap sales fell as mills limited production after losing market share to imports. This prompted scrap suppliers to ship more material overseas, especially to India, Bangladesh and Pakistan.
Brazil's crude steel production fell by 1.6pc to 33.24mn t in 2025, industry chamber Instituto Aco Brasil said.
Pig iron exports, another input for steelmaking, also increased by 7.8pc to 4.05mn t, customs data show. The US remained the primary market for Brazilian pig iron, accounting for 3.36mn t of those volumes.
Brazilian pig iron suppliers partially redirected exports to European consumers because of uncertainties regarding US tariffs on Brazilian products.
Brazil shipped around 127,120t of pig iron to Italy, up from 506t a year earlier. Shipments to Spain rose to 30,425t, five times the around 5,820t shipped a year earlier.
Argentina bought 139,040t of Brazilian pig iron, nearly nine times the 15,580t exported in 2024.
