Steel Products Prices North America
Steel Imports Down in March, Trending Up in April, May
Written by Brett Linton
May 9, 2019
Steel imports into the U.S. in March, totaling 2.26 million tons, were down by 7 percent from the prior month led by a sharp decline in semi-finished imports, according to final Census data from the Department of Commerce. It does not appear the downtrend is continuing, however.
Based on the latest license data, imports totaled nearly 2.9 million tons in April. The biggest part of that increase appears to be imports of semi-finished steels, mostly slabs purchased by the domestic mills, which more than doubled from the prior month to around 845,000 tons, based on the preliminary data.
While it’s still early in May, taking the average daily license data and multiplying it out for the entire month suggests that imports could trend even higher this month to over 3 million tons. Semi-finished imports are trending flat, but finished steel product licenses are up significantly nine days into the month.
Below are two graphs covering steel imports through final March 2019 figures. You will need to view the graphs on our website to use their interactive features; you can do so by clicking here. If you need assistance logging into or navigating the website, contact us at info@SteelMarketUpdate.com.
Brett Linton
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