BRAZIL · STEEL
Key Facts
- Answer: Usiminas, a Brazilian steelmaker, has a chief executive who declined to say when margins will recover.
- Profit: R$243 million (about US$44 million) in the third quarter, down 43% from the second.
- Margin: Adjusted EBITDA (operating profit before interest, tax, depreciation) was 9% of revenue, against 12%.
- Next quarter: The company expects “a modest decline” in its steel unit’s operating results.
- Investment: A R$1.7 billion (about US$304 million) rebuild of a coke battery, which makes furnace fuel, at its Ipatinga steelworks.
- Power Index Brazil ranks 1st of 14 in The Rio Times Latin America Power Index, with 74.2 points (November 2026 edition).
Marcelo Chara, chief executive of the Brazilian steelmaker Usiminas, declined on Tuesday 10 November 2026 to say when the company’s profit margins will recover. He told journalists that the future depends on industry, business owners and governments together.
Usiminas makes flat steel in Minas Gerais state, with its main steelworks in Ipatinga, and also mines iron ore. Its shares trade on the São Paulo exchange, B3, as USIM5.
He spoke at the Alacero Summit 2026 in Mexico City, a meeting of Alacero, the Latin American steel association. Dollar figures here use a market rate of R$5.583 per US$1 at 07:35 UTC on Wednesday 11 November 2026.
We covered the quarterly numbers and the market reaction in our earlier report on the results. This story covers Chara’s answer on margins and what the company’s own release says about the next quarter.
What Chara Said About Margins
Asked whether Usiminas can return to the margins of earlier periods, Chara gave no forecast, according to his remarks to reporters at the summit. He said recovery depends on the companies’ own efforts and on conditions for Brazilian industry.
In words translated from Portuguese, Chara said that solutions will not come from outside. “The future depends on us, on industrialists, on business owners and on governments,” he said.
He added: “The future depends on all Brazilians.” These remarks were made to journalists at the summit, and we have not independently confirmed them.
Chara acknowledged the pressure on margins and said imports entering under conditions he considers unfair make recovery harder. He added that steelmakers must also become more competitive through efficiency investment and cost cuts.
What the Company Release Says
Usiminas earned a net profit of R$243 million (about US$44 million) in the third quarter, down 43% from R$428 million (about US$77 million) in the second. Adjusted EBITDA fell 27% to R$558 million (about US$100 million) from R$761 million (about US$136 million).
That put the adjusted EBITDA margin at 9%, against 12% in the second quarter. Net revenue was R$6.2 billion (about US$1.11 billion), up 1% on the second quarter and down 6% on a year earlier.
The steel unit made adjusted EBITDA of R$538 million (about US$96 million), a margin of 10%. Steel sales rose 5% to 1.0 million tonnes, but net revenue per tonne fell 0.3% while cost of goods sold per tonne rose 2.4%.
The mining unit made adjusted EBITDA of just R$19 million (about US$3 million), a margin of 3%. The iron ore benchmark price fell 7.9%, iron ore sales fell 18.4% to 2.0 million tonnes, and the company temporarily halted operations at one plant.
The company ended September with net cash of R$471 million (about US$84 million), meaning cash and investments exceeded gross debt. Net debt to EBITDA stood at minus 0.20 times.
Live Market IntelligenceBrazil — Live Market Board
Rio Times · Live Market Intelligence
Brazil — Live Market Board
-0.52%
171,336.99
-0.52%
71,905.78
+0.05%
10,597.06
+0.07%
2,848,945
—
2,528.01
-1.88%
| Instrument | Last | Change | YoY | Prev. | High | Low | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IBOV | 171,336.99 | -0.52% | +10.36% | 172,236.05 | — | — | — |
| USD/BRL | 5.58 | -0.05% | +5.49% | 5.58 | 5.59 | 5.58 | — |
| SELIC | 13.75% | — | — | — | — | — | |
| PETR4 | 44.95 | -0.53% | +38.91% | 45.19 | 45.68 | 44.50 | 54,961,500 |
| VALE3 | 64.80 | -1.98% | -0.63% | 66.11 | 66.11 | 64.20 | 22,893,100 |
| ITUB4 | 41.20 | -1.25% | +4.94% | 41.72 | 42.50 | 41.15 | 20,213,600 |
| BBDC4 | 14.54 | -0.95% | -23.79% | 14.68 | 14.84 | 14.30 | 51,531,000 |
| BBAS3 | 17.10 | +0.47% | -24.93% | 17.02 | 17.17 | 16.82 | 27,692,900 |
| B3SA3 | 14.48 | -2.49% | +10.37% | 14.85 | 15.14 | 14.26 | 39,095,500 |
| ABEV3 | 15.79 | +1.15% | +19.80% | 15.61 | 15.79 | 15.55 | 25,853,700 |
| WEGE3 | 50.95 | +0.41% | +12.30% | 50.74 | 51.83 | 50.58 | 12,799,900 |
| PRIO3 | 60.02 | +1.06% | +53.00% | 59.39 | 60.09 | 58.35 | 10,242,700 |
| SUZB3 | 54.46 | +0.48% | +16.62% | 54.20 | 55.50 | 53.86 | 9,241,700 |
| RENT3 | 29.79 | -3.37% | -29.19% | 30.83 | 31.29 | 29.70 | 13,596,000 |
| AZZA3 | 14.73 | -2.58% | -47.69% | 15.12 | 15.55 | 14.52 | 2,463,700 |
| CSNA3 | 4.38 | -2.45% | -47.17% | 4.49 | 4.57 | 4.36 | 18,925,300 |
| GGBR4 | 25.83 | +3.65% | +35.24% | 24.92 | 25.93 | 25.14 | 9,678,500 |
| ENEV3 | 27.05 | -1.28% | +39.79% | 27.40 | 27.74 | 26.75 | 8,263,300 |
What the Company Expects Next
The release expects export steel sales to rise from the third quarter, offsetting the seasonal fall in domestic sales. It also expects a less favourable sales mix to lower net revenue per tonne.
Pressure on the cost of sales from raw materials, inputs and energy should continue, the company said. It expects “a modest decline in the Steel Unit’s operating results” in the fourth quarter, and iron ore sales are also expected to fall.
Management said imports from countries other than China, such as Vietnam, South Korea and Egypt, keep pressuring the industry. It added that indirect imports, such as vehicles made abroad or assembled in Brazil from imported materials, add to the pressure.
The company called continued trade-defence measures, which are rules such as extra duties on imports, essential for a level playing field. The release lists imports as a continuing pressure on the industry.
Investment on a 10 to 20 Year Horizon
Chara said industrial investments follow a horizon of 10 to 20 years, not a single quarter. He mentioned the modernisation of blast furnaces and the rebuilding of a coke battery at Ipatinga.
The project is Battery 4 of Coke Plant 2, at R$1.7 billion (about US$304 million). The board approved it in 2025 and, he said, contracting has advanced.
Coke is the fuel-grade carbon that feeds blast furnaces. The project aims to raise coke and coke-gas output and rely less on outside suppliers.
He acknowledged progress in Brazil’s trade-defence measures and praised dialogue with the government. He said the protection mechanisms still need improving and mentioned geopolitical tension raising industrial costs.
In Plain English, Who Is Who
An EBITDA margin is operating profit as a share of sales, so a 9% margin means about nine cents of operating profit for each dollar of revenue. Adjusted means the company removed items it considers one-off.
Trade-defence measures are rules, such as extra duties, that shield local producers from imports. Alacero is the Latin American steel association that hosted the summit.
What It Means for You
For a reader in the United States, Usiminas shows how import competition presses heavy industry in Brazil, from steel to vehicle supply chains. The company offers no date for a margin recovery.
No central-bank or statistics-office figure bears directly on this story. Our steel markets report gives sector background from September.
What Is Not Known
Usiminas has not published a margin target or a date, so the pace of any recovery is open. Chara’s answer leaves that question to the companies’ own efforts and to conditions for industry.
How large the fourth-quarter decline will be is not known, because the release says only “modest”. Whether import protection will change is also not known.
More: Brazil news in English, every day from The Rio Times.
Frequently Asked Questions
Did the Usiminas chief executive say when margins will recover?
No, Marcelo Chara declined to give a forecast when asked on Tuesday 10 November 2026. He said recovery depends on the companies’ own efforts and on conditions for Brazilian industry.
How much profit did Usiminas make in the third quarter of 2026?
Net profit was R$243 million (about US$44 million), down 43% from R$428 million (about US$77 million) in the second quarter. Adjusted EBITDA was R$558 million (about US$100 million).
What does Usiminas expect for the fourth quarter?
The company expects “a modest decline in the Steel Unit’s operating results” and lower iron ore sales. It expects higher export steel sales to offset the seasonal fall at home.
What is the coke battery project at Ipatinga?
It is the rebuild of Battery 4 of Coke Plant 2, costing R$1.7 billion (about US$304 million). Coke is the fuel-grade carbon that feeds blast furnaces.
Sources: Usiminas investor relations, third-quarter 2026 earnings release; Marcelo Chara’s remarks to journalists at the Alacero Summit 2026, Mexico City, Tuesday 10 November 2026; exchange rate: market rate of R$5.583 per US$1 at 07:35 UTC on Wednesday 11 November 2026.
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated AI newsroom. Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief. The Rio Times also runs Ask Rio Times, which answers from 100,000+ of our own articles, the daily Latin America Power Map, and prediction-market odds on elections and markets.. How we use AI · Report an error
Brazil runoff, Sunday, October 25: Brazil runoff date. Latest: Brazil runoff polls, Flávio 51%, Lula 49%.