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    January 31, 2019

    Steel Import Data is Back

    Written by Brett Linton

    The U.S. Department of Commerce released import license data through the month of December 2018 earlier this week. The December license data is showing a large reduction in semi-finished imports (mostly slabs going to domestic steel mills). SMU believes the lower slab numbers may be due to quotas from Brazil having been reached, thus capping what was being allowed to come in. We believe the January slab numbers will be quite high as the quotas open back up for 1st Quarter 2019. We also saw a reduction in finished steels. Oil Country Tubular Goods (OCTG) imports were much lower than the 12-month and 3-month moving averages. Galvanized imports were down as was Galvalume and cut plate. It will be interesting to see what the January numbers look like when the data is finally available from the USDOC.

    Brett Linton

    Brett Linton is a digital operations 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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