Steel Products Prices North America
Flat, Long, and Semi-Finished Imports through May 2014
Written by Peter Wright
June 3, 2014
Licensed data for May was updated on June 3rd through the Steel Import Monitoring System of the US Commerce Department. The SMU publishes several import reports ranging from this very early look using licensed data to the very detailed analysis of final volumes by district of entry and source nation which is published in our premium product. The early look, the latest of which you are reading now, has been based on three month moving averages (3MMA) using May licensed data, April preliminary data and March final data. We recognize that the license data is subject to significant revisions but believe that by combining it with earlier months data in this way gives a reasonably accurate assessment of total volume as early as possible. The main issue with the license data is the month in which the tonnage arrives. We are currently investigating the relationship between licensed tonnage and month of arrival in this newsletter. Stay tuned.
Figure 1 shows the 3MMA through May licenses for semi-finished, flat and long products. Flat includes all hot and cold rolled sheet and strip plus all coated sheet products plus both discrete and coiled plate. The anticipated import surge is now underway for each of these major categories.
Figure 2 shows the trend of sheet and strip products since January 2011. Only tin plate and electro-galvanized sheet have been spared from the current surge.
Table 1 provides a detailed import analysis and compares the average monthly tonnage of the three months through May, with both the same period last year and with three months through February. The total tonnage of all hot worked products averaged 2,562,680 tons per month in three months through May, up by 27.0 percent year / year and by 21.3 percent since three months through February. Semi-finished imports were up by 58.5 percent y / y, flat rolled products were up by 46.1 percent and long products by 25.3 percent. Table 1 shows the tonnage and percent change for all the major product groups and for sheet products in detail. The average monthly tonnage of sheet products in three months through May increased by 283,258 tons or 43.3 percent year over year.
Long products, led by a surge in heavy structurals and wire rod, fared somewhat better than flat rolled in this analysis. Imports of pipe and tube had only a minor increase and imports of rail products declined, particularly on a year over year basis.
Peter Wright
Read more from Peter WrightLatest in Steel Products Prices North America
SMU Price Ranges: HR holds, galv slips amid competing market narratives
SMU’s sheet and plate prices see-sawed this week as hot-rolled (HR) coil prices held their ground while prices for galvanized product slipped.
Nucor carries $875/ton HR list price into week seven
Nucor is keeping hot-rolled (HR) coil prices unchanged again this week, according to its latest consumer spot price (CSP) notice issued on Monday, Oct. 6
SMU Price Ranges: A newsy week sees modest price gains despite a quiet spot market
Market participants predicted that prices should be at or near a bottom. But while most seemed to agree on that point, many also said they saw little upside given a quiet spot market and ongoing concerns about demand.
Nucor increases plate prices by $60/ton
Nucor aims to increase prices for steel plate by $60 per short ton with the opening of its November order book.
Nucor’s $875/ton HR spot price spills into week six
Nucor is keeping hot-rolled (HR) coil prices unchanged again this week, according to its latest consumer spot price (CSP) notice issued on Monday, Sept. 29.