Brazil's pig iron exports dropped in April, largely because trade with the US stalled over tariff uncertainty and a major domestic holiday in February.
Brazilian pig iron producers exported around 267,155 metric tonnes (t) of pig iron in April, down by 27pc from approximately 367,165t in the same period last year. The decrease is mostly owed to market dynamics from February, as pig iron shipments usually have a two-month lag from the date in which the sale was executed to when the cargo is loaded and marked as exported, meaning April shipments were generally booked in February.
A combination of factors led to the decline, including lower US demand, a major holiday in Brazil and tariff uncertainty.
Some US buyers stepped out of the market in the first two weeks of February as they were sufficiently stocked at the time because of a series of purchases made in December and January.
After that, Brazil-based sellers slowed exports because of Carnaval, the largest holiday in Brazil's calendar year with around five consecutive days off. In 2025 the same holiday instead stretched mostly into March.
In late February, just days after Carnaval, US president Donald Trump announced that he was mulling a 5 percentage-point increase to his 10pc blanket levy, making sellers hesitant to execute sales before the policy became clearer — again slowing sales.
The US accounted for 97pc of all Brazil's pig iron exports in April. There were no shipments to Europe in the period.
Ferrous scrap
Brazil's April ferrous scrap exports marginally increased from a year before.
Brazilian scrapyards exported almost 58,810t in April, a 9pc increase from the same period last year. India and Bangladesh received over 85pc of all exports from Brazil, with Indian buyers purchasing nearly 66pc of all volumes.
The remaining shipments were scattered among 17 other countries.
