RIO DE JANEIRO--Steelmakers Usinas Siderurgicas de Minas Gerais
SA (USIM5.BR), or Usiminas, and ArcelorMittal Brasil are raising
their product prices by 5% to 8%, a steel distributor who purchases
from the companies said late Wednesday.
The increases are being charged on flat steel products sold to
the domestic market, said Christiano da Cunha Freire of Sao
Paulo-based distributor Frefer Metal Plus - Klockner & Co.
Companhia Siderurgica Nacional SA (SID, CSNA3.BR), or CSN,
hasn't yet announced any price increase, according to the
distributor.
A spokesman for CSN said he couldn't yet confirm any price hike
when asked Wednesday by Dow Jones Newswires.
A spokesman for Usiminas said the company doesn't comment on its
pricing policy.
Barclays Capital said in a research note earlier Wednesday that
the Brazilian real's recent depreciation against the dollar,
coupled with easing steel imports, may favor local steel price
increases. However, higher prices are risky for steelmakers as
domestic steel demand remains sluggish--including in the auto
sector--global pricing is moving sideways, and local competition is
rising, Barclays said.
Write to Diana Kinch at diana.kinch@dowjones.com