Steel Products Prices North America
April Imports Forecast to Exceed 3.5 Million Tons
Written by John Packard
April 15, 2014
The U.S. Department of Commerce released license data through Tuesday, April 15th for imported steel scheduled to arrive into the United States during the month of April. Based on this early license data (knowing it can be misleading) we are projecting total steel imports will exceed the 3.5 million net tons forecast for March. Our forecast for April is currently calling for imports to reach 3.8 million tons.
The areas which are currently suggesting increasing imports are: OCTG (oil country tubular goods), hot rolled and cold rolled. Galvalume imports are also forecast to be quite high from a recent historical perspective.
Below are the various forecasts Steel Market Update made for the month of March based on license data. The next step will be for the release of Preliminary Census data which will provide a more accurate number for the month of March.
John Packard
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