Usiminas, one of the major steel manufacturers in Brazil, is mulling the shutdown of operations of a blast furnace in Ipatinga, the state of Minas Gerais, due to weak domestic sales and surged imports, especially from China.

Sergio Leite, the vice president of Strategic Affairs at Usiminas, said that one of the company’s blast furnaces would be closed later this year if steel imposts couldn't be curbed by effective measures.

Brazil's steel enterprises have been urging the government to increase the import duties on steel from 9.6% to 25%, in line with the pace of the US and the EU, but the local consumer sector strongly resisted the proposal.