August Apparent Steel Supply

Apparent steel supply for August was 10,252,449 net tons, down slightly from July which was the largest tonnage month since the beginning of the Great Recession. Apparent steel supply is calcualted by adding domestic shipments and finished US imports and subtracting total US exports. Note that our Premium member analysis breaks down apparent steel supply by flat and long products.

August supply represents a 836,077 ton or 8.9 percent increase compared to the same month one year ago. This is primarily due to the massive spike in 2014 imports, with total August imports up 28.5 percent or 820,068 tons over August 2013 tonnage. Domestic shipments and finished imports also increased over levels one year prior, while exports decreased. The net trade balance between imports and exports was a surplus of 2,650,175 tons in August, an increase of 53.1 percent from the same month last year.

Brett Linton

Brett Linton is a digital operations 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.