Steel Products Prices North America

January Foreign Steel Imports Trending Up

Written by Brett Linton

January 16, 2018

The U.S. Department of Commerce released import license data earlier today, which indicates that January steel imports are trending slightly higher than December’s 2,475,249 tons. Right now, based on the first 16 days of data, January is trending toward a 2.5 million to 2.7 million net ton month.

Semi-finished imports (slabs/billets), which are purchased by the domestic steel mills, are significantly lower, trending toward fewer than 400,000 net tons.

Oil country tubular goods (OCTG) are much higher. However, the items Steel Market Update watches on a regular basis (shown below) are trending lower.

Hot rolled is trending toward 160,000 tons, cold rolled 120,000 tons, galvanized just over 200,000 tons and plate products (cut and coil) 125,000 tons.

The one item that is growing is Galvalume (other metallic), which came in below 40,000 tons in December and is now trending up to over 100,000 net tons in January.

Brett Linton

Brett Linton is a senior 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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