Prices
December 12, 2017
December Foreign Steel Imports Trending Toward 2.6 Million Tons
Written by John Packard
The U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) released new import license data this evening. Steel Market Update has done a quick analysis of the data and foreign steel imports for the month of December are trending toward a 2.6 million net ton month (November license data was very similar at this time of the month yet ended up at 2.8 million tons).
Semi-finished imports (mostly slabs) are trending approximately 200,000 tons higher than what we saw in November. Finished imports (less semi’s) are trending toward 1.9 million tons which would be 400,000 tons lower than November and 600,000 tons below October levels (as well as the 12-month and 3-month moving averages).
This is still very early in the month and much can change between now and the end of December. The table below is based on the daily average for licenses assuming the rate will continue for the balance of the month.
