Steel Products Prices North America

Import Licenses for Slabs See Big Jump in June

Written by Brett Linton

July 11, 2019

Steel imports into the U.S. in June potentially jumped by more than 30 percent in a comparison of May final Census data with June import license data. The final tally of June imports has not yet been released by the Commerce Department.

Total steel imports in May, at around 2.1 million tons, were well below the average of around 2.6 million tons, thus some rebound was not unexpected in June. But finished steel imports appear to have seen a small decline in June. The entire gain from May to June can be attributed to a possible 673,000-ton increase in imports of semi-finished steels, mostly slabs imported by domestic steelmakers.

Steel producers in the U.S. are hoping to capitalize on higher flat-rolled prices in the coming weeks and now have the raw material to roll.

See the chart below for additional import data by product type:

Below are two graphs covering steel imports through final May 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

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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