The Minister of Mines and Energy, Bento Albuquerque, stressed the importance of creating incentives to leverage the steel industry in his speech at the 30th Brazil Steel Congress, held on Tuesday, 20, in Brasilia. For the Minister, the event is relevant for conducting public policies and guidelines for this sector.

“Since we took over the management of the MME, we have been developing a number of initiatives aimed at unlocking bottlenecks on major Pasta issues,” he said, noting that the steel industry “despite being the backbone of the country's development-inducing segments, its per capita consumption is steady ”.

The Minister recalled that “steel is practically present in all structures, equipment and components of oil and natural gas exploration and production systems. In this scenario, there will be many opportunities for the steel industry and other segments of the chain installed in the country to supply, in large part, the demand that is being created with the concession agreements, production sharing and onerous assignment, already signed with several oil operators for exploration on land and at sea ”.

Finally, he also highlighted the positive evaluations received at meetings with investors. “Despite all the difficulties and challenges that the country is going through, we have received from international investors express expressions that Brazil is a present and future country of opportunity where a reliable business environment for investment is developed, especially in the energy and infrastructure sectors, ”he said.

30th Brazil Steel Congress 

The purpose of the event was to promote debate about the perspectives and the importance of the sector for the Brazilian economy.

According to the Brazil Steel Institute, Brazil is the 9th largest producer in the world (2018 production reached 35.4 million tons). There are 32 mills that produce steel in the Brazilian territory. In addition, the installed capacity is capable of generating 51.5 million tons of steel per year. The latest survey by the Brazil Steel Institute showed that the total revenue of the sector in Brazil was $ 99.2 billion, in addition to the $ 17.7 billion taxes paid. From 2008 to 2018, the Brazilian steel industry invested US $ 26.6 billion.

The event brought together leading steel producers, manufacturing executives, federal officials, Brazilian and foreign experts, as well as businessmen to discuss the direction of the industry and the resumption of economic growth in the country.