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    Steel Imports Decline to 2.9 Million Tons in May

    Written by Brett Linton


    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.

    Brett Linton

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