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    October 30, 2013

    August Imports Surge by 368,000 Tons Due to Slabs & OCTG

    Written by John Packard

    The U.S. Department of Commerce released final August import numbers late last week. August steel imports rose by 368,606 net tons to 2,878,367 net tons due to higher slab, OCTG, cold rolled and hot-dipped galvanized imports. Slab imports were up by 140,252 tons over the prior month to 657,659 tons total. However, this was expected as ThyssenKrupp Steel USA continues to build back their inventories. Brazil, which is where the ThyssenKrupp CSA slab mill is located, shipped 374,322 tons of slabs during August which was an increase of 74,802 tons above their July numbers. We also saw increases in slab shipments out of Russia and Mexico.

    Also of significance was oil country tubular goods (OCTG) which saw August tonnage increase to 361,670 net tons or 128,555 tons more than the previous month. This was also the highest level of OCTG imports since May 2012 when 379,862 net tons were brought into the United States. The largest exporting country continues to be Korea which evidently is not concerned about the dumping suits filed against the country by a number of domestic tubular mills.

    John Packard

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