BNamericas quoted Mr Christiano Freire president of steel distributors association Inda as saying that Brazil is about to raise tariffs on steel imports.

He said that the idea is to increase rates of numerous non taxed products to 12% as of March 2009. Mr Freire said that "The expectation is for the government to start levying hot and cold rolled products."

He added that the volume of Brazilian steel imports will drop substantially also because of the high value of the US dollar versus the Brazilian real and tight credit. He said that "Buyers do not know how much the dollar is going to be worth against the real four months from now. Obtaining lines of credit are also difficult. When you combine all these factors, activity diminishes."

He mentioned that diminishing imports benefit Brazilian distributors because it cuts down excessive steel in the market. He added that "These imported materials came in at a very expensive price, 30% higher than regular prices."

(Sourced from www.bnamericas.com)