Brazil: ArcelorMittal Plans US$1.9 Billion More as Duties Cut Steel Imports
BRAZIL · STEEL · INVESTMENT
Key Facts
- —The country Brazil is the world’s ninth-largest producer of crude steel, with 1.8% of global output. China alone makes 51.9%, according to Worldsteel figures cited by Folha de S.Paulo.
- —The background Imported steel passed 25% of Brazil’s market in January 2026. ArcelorMittal, one of the world’s largest steelmakers, had threatened to stop investing unless the government curbed imports, many of them Chinese.
- —Why now Brazil has imposed anti-dumping duties of up to five years on steel from China and India. Steel imports fell 17.6% in the first half of 2026, and the import share dropped to about 16% by July and August.
- —What happened ArcelorMittal Brasil’s chief executive, Jorge Oliveira, told Folha on 1 October that the group plans more than R$10 billion (about US$1.9 billion) of new investment in Brazil in the coming years.
- —The numbers About half goes to the Tubarão plant in Espírito Santo. A second project of about R$5 billion (about US$960 million) at Pecém, in Ceará, awaits a final decision by the end of 2026.
- —What it means for you More flat steel made in Brazil for carmakers, appliance makers and builders. The same duties that shield the mills also keep cheaper foreign steel out for Brazilian buyers.
- —Still open Whether Pecém goes ahead, and whether the next government keeps the trade defences. Oliveira says imports should fall to about 10% of the market.
ArcelorMittal, one of the world’s largest steelmakers, plans to invest over R$10 billion (about US$1.9 billion) in Brazil in the coming years. Its Brazil chief linked the plan to anti-dumping duties that have cut steel imports, many of them from China.
“You can’t say the measures didn’t help. They did,” Jorge Oliveira, chief executive of ArcelorMittal Brasil, told the newspaper Folha de S.Paulo on 1 October.
What ArcelorMittal plans
About half of the money is for Tubarão, the group’s flat-steel plant in Serra, Espírito Santo. It will add a cold-strip mill and a continuous coating line able to make 560,000 tonnes a year, Folha reported.
The Tubarão project was first announced in February 2025. The news site Brasil 247 calls it confirmed, at R$4 billion to R$5 billion (about US$770 million to US$960 million).
The second project is at Pecém, a port and industrial complex in Ceará, in Brazil’s north-east. The plant there makes only slabs, a semi-finished product, and the company is in the final stage of a feasibility study.
An expansion would turn those slabs into coils for Brazilian carmakers and builders.
Citing Bloomberg Línea, Brasil 247 puts it at about R$5 billion (about US$960 million). A decision is due by the end of 2026.
The new package follows R$25 billion (about US$4.8 billion) invested in Brazil under a programme begun in 2022, Folha reported.
All conversions use Thursday’s closing rate of R$5.2176 per US dollar, from RT live market data.
How Brazil curbed steel imports
Brazil did not ban Chinese steel. It added duties on specific products after investigations found dumping, meaning sales below fair value, and damage to local producers.
In February, definitive anti-dumping duties of up to five years hit cold-rolled flat steel from China, Brasil 247 noted. Brazil also charges a 25 percent tariff on steel imports above set quotas.
The effect shows in the data. Steel imports fell 17.6% year on year in the first half of 2026, according to Instituto Aço Brasil, the industry association.
Imports took over 25% of the market in January but about 16% in July and August, Folha reported, citing ministry data. In 2025, rolled-steel imports had risen 20.5% to 5.7 million tonnes, according to company figures cited by Brasil 247.
Why Brazil matters to the group
Brazil is ArcelorMittal’s second-largest market after the United States. Its Brazilian revenue reached US$3.15 billion in the second quarter, up 12.2% from the first, Folha reported.
Demand is uneven. About 37% of the Brazilian business serves construction, which faces higher costs and high interest rates, and 25% serves carmakers.
Carmakers are under pressure from Chinese cars. Many arrive as kits of imported parts, Folha noted, so they use no Brazilian steel.
What comes next
The Pecém decision is due by the end of 2026. Oliveira said imports are still “far from a bearable level”, which he put at about 10% of the market, the historical average.
“We are prepared to invest, as long as the import equation is right for our growth,” he said. “Our decision today is long-term and goes beyond governments,” he added. He took no side in Sunday’s presidential election.
The plan is not a done deal. Only Tubarão is described as confirmed, and the rest depends on studies, demand and trade policy.
Nor does it settle the costs that worry the industry.
Oliveira asked the next government to cut the “Custo Brasil”, the extra cost of doing business in Brazil. He also wants cheaper gas and power.
Frequently Asked Questions
Has Brazil banned Chinese steel?
No. Brazil applies anti-dumping duties to specific steel products from China and India after investigations, plus a 25 percent tariff on imports above set quotas. Chinese steel can still be imported.
What is ArcelorMittal?
It is one of the world’s largest steel producers, controlled by the Indian Mittal family. Brazil is its second-largest market after the United States.
Where are the plants?
Tubarão is in Serra, in the metropolitan area of Vitória, Espírito Santo. Pecém is a port and industrial complex in the state of Ceará, in Brazil’s north-east.
What is the “Custo Brasil”?
It is a Brazilian shorthand for the extra cost of doing business in the country, from taxes and red tape to logistics and energy prices.
Sources: Folha de S.Paulo (C-Level), “Redução do aço chinês no Brasil alivia ArcelorMittal, que projeta aporte de mais de R$ 10 bi no país” (over R$10 billion, about US$1.9 billion), interview with Jorge Oliveira, 1 October 2026; Brasil 247, “Grupo indiano ArcelorMittal projeta investimento bilionário no Brasil após governo barrar importações chinesas”, 2 October 2026 (citing Folha and Bloomberg Línea); Instituto Aço Brasil and Worldsteel figures as cited by Folha; exchange rate: RT live market data, 1 October 2026 close (R$5.2176 per US dollar). Retrieved 2 October 2026.
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