Prices
October 9, 2015
Flat, Long, and Semi-Finished Steel Imports Analysis
Written by Peter Wright
Licensed data for September was updated on October 6th 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 available to our premium members. The early look, the latest of which you are reading now has been based on three month moving averages (3MMA) using September licensed data and July and August final data (explanation at end).
Total rolled product licensed imports in the single month of September were 2,147,018 short tons with a 3MMA of 2,351,446 tons. September licenses were down by 10.2 percent from the final August volume. On this basis flat rolled was down by 7.8 percent, long products down by 17.3 percent and pipe and tube down by 17.9 percent. At SMU we prefer not to dwell on single months results because of the extreme monthly variability that can occur in individual products. In the comments below we use three month moving averages to get a more representative picture.
