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And ship the steel to BYD in Camaçari to build electric cars for Brazilians?

From what I’ve read, modern steel manufacturing is a highly technical process. China has the technical know how, skilled labor and experience. Brazil would have to play catch up. In the meantime they would probably produce an overpriced inferior product. Iron ore is a commodity like crude oil. Not much brain power required. Extract it, and ship it.

The Brazilians are not as dumb as you think they are.

My Brazilian friend correctly assessed the situation twenty years ago.

They can’t even extract ore without problems. Ever hear about this fiasco?

2021 MG Tailing dam failure. Google it. An ecological disaster. Not so smart or well engineered.

Vale S.A., Brazil's largest miner and the company responsible for the dam, was ordered to pay $7 billion in damages to the affected communities. In 2021, Vale agreed to pay at least BRL 37.68 billion in collective damages, including nearly BRL 1.3 billion in direct reparations to the victims' families

Yes, your point?

My point is everything is easier said, then done. Yes, there are thousands of brilliant Brazilians for sure. It’s just it’s very difficult to execute large technically complex projects efficiently and effectively without a well trained workforce. In my career as an automation controls engineer involved with the semiconductor industry we were fortunate to have a significant percentage of our staff which were trained by the US Navy and Air force. The mindset of these individuals was that of detail, foresight and dedication. Not qualities I see in the average Brazilian worker. Sorry about that. Heck, Brazil hasn’t even built an adequate Interstate Highway System, as a simple example. Without adequate infrastructure, the Bahia super steel mill would likely produce overpriced steel.

So you don’t have any experience with the Brazilian workforce, just with the US military industrial complex?

Here’s another example of worker dedication in Brazil. I had an air conditioner installed in September. The electrician was supposed to install an equipment ground for the AC. It is now mid-November. Two weeks ago when I talked to him he said he’d get a hold of me soon to finish up. This workmanship is VERY typical in my area of Brazil.

I found the Brazilian software engineers absolutely delightful to work with.

@bepmoht

You are just a grumpy old man, like me.

11/18/24 Brazil is the ninth largest steel producer in the world: 

Brazil has produced its own steel since 1946, when the Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional (CSU), then a state-owned company, started full-scale production.  CSU was privatized in 1993, and has steel production facilities in Brazil, Portugal, and Germany, and a Distribution and Solutions Center in the United States.  CSU would probably not buy ore from Bahia, because it has its own mines; there are other Brazilian steel companies that may, though.

@bepmoht

Brasil does make steel. Among the companies producing it are Gerdau, Usimas and CSN (Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional). Some of those also have steel plants on other parts of the world, including North America.

The Usiminas plant in my adopted city, Ipatinga (in the Steel Valley), started steel production in the 1950's. Huge plant with recent updated blast furnaces. The locals indicate that while production is not as high as it once was, it still is a leader in production of rolled and flat steel in the Americas.

In the USA my grandparents lived in upper Michigan in" Iron Country". As kids I remember counting the ore filled rail cars as they passed by their farm. I guess iron ore is in my blood.