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    February Foreign Steel Import Trend Now at 2.5 Million Tons

    Written by Brett Linton


    Foreign steel import licenses picked up over the past week and the February trend moved up to 2.5 million net tons from the low 2-million-ton level suggested last week. The trend is very similar to what we saw during the month of December when the U.S. imported 2,450,286 net tons.

    Our focus, however, is on those items that are important to flat rolled and plate steels. Semi-finished is trending toward just below 500,000 net tons. Finished steel imports are trending toward two million tons.

    Brett Linton

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    Plate supply squeeze tightens as demand presses higher

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