Brazil has lowered for six months import duties on some steel plates used to produce capital goods for the petrochemicals industry because of supply shortages, the Trade Ministry said.

Brazil reduced the import tax it charges on two specific steel plates to 2 percent from 12 percent, the ministry said in a statement on its website. Brazil also set a limit of up to 800 tons and 250 tons for the importation of each plate, the ministry said.

Brazilian manufacturers don't produce steel plates currently, even though they have the spare capacity to do so, the ministry said.

Latin America's biggest economy has been facing bottlenecks after growing 9 percent on an annual basis in the first quarter, driven by consumer demand and investment. The use of installed capacity fell to 82.3 percent in May, from a 19-month high of 82.8 percent in April.

Source: Bloomberg