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    December 9, 2014

    Final October Imports at Record Levels, Up 43% Year Over Year

    Written by Brett Linton

    Total October steel imports were recently finalized by the US Department of Commerce at 4,441,271 net tons (4,029,058 metric tons), surpassing the previous high of 4,417,811 tons in August 1998. October had been on pace to be a high tonnage month, but previous preliminary data figures were a few thousand tons shy of breaking the 16 year record (one reason why we try to represent license data figures as a way of watching trends but there is some “slop” in the numbers which can go in either direction).

    Based on license data (remember our “slop” comment above) November steel imports appear will be close to 4.0 million net tons. This is a little higher than the 3.7-3.8 million tons we had been projecting over the past couple of weeks.

    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.

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