Steel Products Prices North America

Steel Imports Decline to 2.9 Million Tons in May

Written by Brett Linton

July 10, 2018

On Friday, July 6, the U.S. Department of Commerce released Final Census Data on foreign steel imports for the month of May 2018. May imports totaled 2,929,652 net tons, which was 824,335 tons less than the prior month.

The import license data collected through July 6 shows June foreign steel imports to be on pace with May at 2.9 million net tons. However, looking at the finished steel only data (removing semi-finished steels), we see another significant drop from 2,455,507 to 2,059,921 net tons.

There was a large influx of semi’s (mostly slabs for the domestic steel mills) in June. The domestic steel mills imported 881,651 net tons of semi’s during the month of June.

Essentially, all flat rolled and plate products came in below their 12-month and three-month moving averages.


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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