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    February 23, 2020

    January and February Foreign Steel Imports

    Written by Brett Linton

    Licenses for imports of finished steel in January totaled around 1.7 million tons, according to the latest Department of Commerce data, well above the three-month moving average near 1.4 million tons. While the January license data is prelminary, the last time the final Census data for finished imports was this high was in August 2019 at 1.8 million tons.

    Import licenses in January totaled 3.4 million tons, including licenses for 1.7 million tons of semifinished products. Those figures are unusually high as a result of buyers seeking to max out quarterly quota limits. The final Census data will show actual imports averaging lower during the course of the quarter.

    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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