Steel Products Prices North America

Foreign Steel Imports Up in January?
Written by Brett Linton
February 9, 2020
Imports of steel products into the United States appear to have increased in January, based on Commerce Department license data. Precisely how much is difficult to calculate, as quotas on imports of semifinished steel pull licenses forward and skew the data. The 1.7 million tons of semifinished imports licensed in January by companies seeking to max out the quarterly quotas will be offset by much lower totals in the following two months, as they have in previous quarters.
However, on a preliminary basis, finished steel imports in January show a nearly 24 percent increase when comparing January licenses totaling 1.67 million tons to the final December imports of 1.35 million tons. Note that when the final Census data for January is published in the coming weeks, finished steel imports are likely to be more modest, based on the three-month moving average of 1.4 million tons.
Final Census data for December shows steel imports totaling 1.57 million tons, including 1.35 million tons of finished steel products and 219,000 tons of semifinished steel, including slabs purchased by the domestic mills. That’s a 1.7 percent increase in total imports versus the prior month. Products with the biggest increases in imports in December included hot rolled, cold rolled and coiled plate.

Brett Linton
Read more from Brett LintonLatest in Steel Products Prices North America

Thin demand keeps plate prices hovering at lowest levels since February
Participants in the domestic plate market say spot prices appear to have hit the floor, and they continue to linger there. They say demand for steel remains thin, with plate products no exception.

SMU Price Ranges: HR crawls back to $800/ton
SMU’s HR price stands at $800/st on average, up $5/st from last week. The modest gain came as the low end of our range firmed, and despite the high end of our range declining slightly.

SMU successfully completes IOSCO review
SMU has successfully completed an external review of all our prices. The review has concluded that they algin with principles set by the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO).

Domestic plate prices could heat up despite so-so demand, market sources say
Some sources also speculated that plate could see further price increases thanks to modest but steady demand, lower imports, mill maintenance outages, and end markets less immediately affected by tariff-related disruptions.

SMU Price Ranges: HR holds, galv slips amid competing market narratives
SMU’s sheet and plate prices see-sawed this week as hot-rolled (HR) coil prices held their ground while prices for galvanized product slipped.