UPDATE 1-Usiminas sees steel prices up, but idles a furnace
* Usiminas sees steel prices up in Europe, U.S. on rebound
* Despite global rebound, Usiminas to keep a furnace idled
* Usiminas concerned about effects of strong currency (Adds currency gains, CEO comments)
SAO PAULO, Oct 22 (Reuters) - Brazilian steelmaker Usiminas (USIM5.SA) sees a recovery of pricing in the United States and Europe as the global economy begins to slowly recover from its worst recession in decades, a top company executive said on Thursday.
Still, Chief Executive Marco Antonio Castello Branco said the last of the three blast furnaces of the Ipatinga plant would remain idle until next year. The company is "in no hurry" to restart it before a sustained recovery, he said.
"We might restart it only next year, until the signs of recovery come clearer," Castello Branco told analysts on a conference call.
The company restarted two of its blast furnaces in July at its Ipatinga and Cubatao production areas in Sao Paulo after idling them earlier.
Usiminas, which exports a large portion of its steel, is concerned about persistent gains in Brazil's currency, the real (BRBY), two senior executives said on the same call.
The real, among the best-performing currencies against the dollar in 2009, has surged 34 percent so far this year. This has reduced the appeal of Brazilian products abroad as they become more expensive in dollar terms.
"We identify as risks the strengthening of the real and the possibility that prices remain somehow depressed for a while longer," said Sergio Leite, vice president for sales at the Belo Horizonte, Brazil-based company.
Late on Wednesday , Usiminas reported a 23 percent drop in third-quarter earnings to 454 million reais ($261.8 million), beating the 376 million reais average estimate of four analysts in a Reuters survey.
Sales sank 36 percent to 2.9 billion reais because of sagging global demand from appliance makers and automobile producers that use Usiminas steel products. ($1=1.734 reais) (Reporting by Guillermo Parra-Bernal, Writing by Elzio Barreto; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)
