Steel Products Prices North America
April Final Imports = 3,350,983 Tons
Written by John Packard
June 5, 2017
On Friday, the U.S. Department of Commerce released Final Census Data on foreign steel imports for the month of April 2017. As expected, the month was another large one with imports totaling 3,350,983 net tons. This is above both the 3-month and 12-month moving averages.
License data for the month of May approached 3.6 million net tons.
One of the key factors in the higher import tonnages is the amount of foreign slab and billet being brought into the country by the domestic steel mills. There were 789,413 net tons of semi-finished products imported by the mills during the month of April. License data is suggesting that number could increase to over 900,000 net tons of slabs/billets during the month of May.
Other items that have to be of concern to the domestic steel industry are: OCTG (oil country tubular goods) which hit 349,905 net tons in April. Galvanized is another item topping 300,000 tons with 330,197 net tons in April and once again May appears to be close to topping the 300,000 ton level. Galvalume imports are also high with 107,316 net tons in April and May is on pace to come close to the 100,000 ton level.
John Packard
Read more from John PackardLatest in Steel Products Prices North America
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 […]
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.
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).
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.
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 […]