Prices
March 10, 2020
Update on Foreign Steel Imports
Written by Brett Linton
Final January steel import data was released this week, resting at 3.1 million net tons, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. The last time a final monthly figure was this high was in April 2019 at 3.3 million tons. License data currently shows February imports at 1.8 million tons.
As previously mentioned, the total January import figure is unusually high as a result of buyers seeking to max out quarterly quota limits on semi-finished products. For the remainder of the first quarter, semi-finished imports should be significantly lower. January semi-finished imports were 1.5 million tons, the highest level seen in SMU’s 10+ year history.
