Steel Products Prices North America

Apparent Steel Supply at 9 Million Tons in February

Written by Brett Linton

April 8, 2014

Apparent steel supply for February was 9,002,702 net tons, an 8.5 percent increase compared to the same month one year ago. This is due to an increase in finished imports and domestic shipments but a decrease in total US exports. The net trade balance between imports and exports was a surplus of 2,381,742 net tons in February, an increase of 61.9 percent from the same month last year. Import penetration continues to be of concern to the domestic steel industry as their percentage of apparent steel supply has been rising and now exceeds 25 percent (2013 average was 23.2 percent).

When compared to last month, when apparent steel supply was at 9,386,260 NT, February supply decreased by 383,558 NT or 4.1 percent. This is due to a decrease in domestic shipments, finished imports, and total exports.

On a year to date basis, the 2014 YTD averages are very close to what we saw during in the previous two years, if not slightly higher for certain data points, and significantly higher than 2011 averages.

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{amchart id=”120″ Apparent Steel Supply- Domestic Shipments, Semi-Fin Imports, Exports}

Brett Linton

Brett Linton is a senior analyst for Steel Market Update, where he began his career. Linton has been in the steel industry since 2010. He has held roles as a category manager and strategic insights director at Reibus before returning to SMU in 2024. He is a graduate of The University of North Georgia with a degree in Finance and Accounting. Brett can be reached at brett@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-314-0179.

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