Steel Products Prices North America
![](https://www.steelmarketupdate.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/media/k2/items/src/dfba34312c1cea96062e7046b9aa0362.jpg)
Imports: August Final 3.0 Million, September 2.8 Million
Written by John Packard
October 6, 2015
The U.S. Department of Commerce released new license data for the month of September and the latest number for foreign steel imports is 2,891,217 tons (net tons). September appears poised to drop 224,000 tons below the August number. The September license data was released at the same time the US DOC reported Final Census Data for the month of August and it came in at 3,061,381 tons – 220,000 tons less than July.
We are finally starting to see imports drop on a steady basis. Are we are seeing evidence of the trade suits or are we actually seeing evidence of the slowdown in demand on certain products (such as OCTG which is down to 94,620 tons in September, well below the 12 month moving average of 269,092 tons)?
Hot rolled ballooned in August to 382,046 tons and appears will come in close to 260,000 tons in September (the two months averaged together were 321,369 tons). We will be very interested in what happens in October. We anticipate lower tons on hot rolled going forward due to the antidumping suits and the weakness in the energy markets.
Cold rolled imports continued at high levels and have not started to come down to earth. Our opinion is this is due to the pipeline of orders already placed with China. We should know more in the next two months – we expect imports of cold rolled to begin to decline.
Galvanized and Galvalume were the first trade suits filed and the November 2nd date is hanging over traders’ heads. In galvanized we have begun to see imports dropping as both August and September are below both the 3 month and 12 month moving average. Galvalume, on the other hand, continues to be twice what it was a couple of years ago.
We will soon learn if the trade suits are truly the “game changer” the domestic mills believe them to be.
![](https://www.steelmarketupdate.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/john-packard.png)
John Packard
Read more from John PackardLatest in Steel Products Prices North America
![](https://www.steelmarketupdate.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/CRU-Logo-2023-07-21-at-4.35.41-PM.png)
CRU: Longs pricing trends diverge in North, South America
Most longs prices in the US were unchanged this month, except for rebar, which declined by $1.50/cwt ($30/short ton) m/m. While end-use demand is stable, inventories are well-stocked, keeping purchases limited. Domestic availability is sufficient to meet current demand, hindering the appetite for imported material. Meanwhile, prices for scrap remained under pressure in June, with […]
![](https://www.steelmarketupdate.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/images/Featured_News_Icons/Nucor.png)
Nucor cuts plate prices by $125/ton, cites ongoing competition
Nucor Corp. announced that its plate mill group would cut prices for as-rolled, discrete, and normalized plate with the opening of its August order book.
![](https://www.steelmarketupdate.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/images/Featured_News_Icons/Nucor.png)
Nucor cuts HR price for fourth straight week
Nucor lowered its consumer spot price (CSP) for hot-rolled (HR) coil by another $10 per short ton (st) for the first week of July. The steelmaker said in a letter to customers on Monday that its CSP base price for the week will be $670/st for all of its sheet mills with the exception of California Steel Industries (CSI).
![](https://www.steelmarketupdate.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/images/Featured_News_Icons/Cliffs_logo2.2.png)
Cliffs sets $720/ton HR price with opening of August books
Cleveland-Cliffs on Tuesday announced its monthly hot-rolled (HR) coil price of $720 per short ton (st) with the official opening of its August order book. The rate is down from last month’s price of $800/st.
![](https://www.steelmarketupdate.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/CRU-Logo-2023-07-21-at-4.35.41-PM.png)
CRU: Demand weakness continues to weigh on global sheet markets
Demand has remained persistently weak across the globe for sheet steel, weighing on prices. US HR coil prices fell the furthest this week as high-volume, low-priced deals were transacted as mills looked to fill order books and competed with one another amid relative demand weakness. Meanwhile, European prices were also down due to low demand […]