March Steel Imports Trending Toward 3-Million-Ton Month

As importers rush to get steel into the United States, unloaded and customs released prior to the March 23 tariff deadline (tomorrow), the trend for March is for imports to exceed 3 million net tons. This would be a big month considering the tapering off we saw in January and February.

With the deadline for Section 232 quickly approaching, the 3.3 million tons of expected licenses may be a bit overstated as we believe there may be fewer vessels arriving after the 23rd than during a normal month. We do not, however, expect imports to drop significantly right away because of the run-up in domestic steel prices. This means that adding 25 percent duty to steel that was bought months ago still provides the ability to make a margin on the steel.