Import Share of Steel Market Moves Up in December

This report examines the import share of sheet, plate, long and tubular products. As of December 2020, imports’ share of total sheet products was 12.3%, up from 11.4% in November. The increase, albeit marginal, is notable as it’s the first increase for imports after declining for seven consecutive months following the most recent peak of 16.6% in May 2020. The import share of hot rolled coil has been below 10% since January 2019; however, it was also up to 9.0% in December, compared to 7.1% the month prior.

Other metallic coated sheet remains the product with the most drastic shift in import market share over the past several years, retracting from its most recent peak of 51.3% in April 2015 to 15.6% in December, and down from 18.3% month on month. This sharp swing is a result of the concurrent decrease in imports and an increase in domestic shipments since 2014.

David Schollaert

David Schollaert is deputy editor-in-chief for Steel Market Update. David joined SMU after more than a decade in the metals and mining industry in a myriad of different roles. Much of his early experience and expertise were within the coverage and analysis of steel-making raw materials and served previously as senior editor of the CRU Prices Service. Most recently, however, before his return to market analysis, David held roles as a metals buyer and an operations manager for raw material suppliers. He can be contacted at david@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-720-1008.