Steel Products Prices North America
February Import Market Share for Tubular and Long Products
Written by David Schollaert
April 15, 2021
This report examines the import share of tubular and long products shipments. Imports’ share of total tubular products rose to 44.6% in February, up from 42.5% the month prior, but primarily due to a 9.7% decrease in domestic tubular shipments overall. Tubular imports decreased for the third consecutive month in February. Long products import market share dipped from 11.7% in January to 11.2% in February, as both imports and domestic shipments edged down month on month.
The import share of wire rod rose to 24.4% in February, up from 20.1% in January, mainly due to an increase of 19.3% in imports month on month. OCTG saw its import share rise to 55.6% in February, up from 51.3% in January, while mechanical tubing rose to 48.7% in February from 43.4% the month prior.
The table below shows total supply to the market in three months and 12 months through February 2021 for the four product groups and 17 subcategories. Supply to the market is the total of domestic mill shipments plus imports. It shows imports on the same three- and 12-month basis and then calculates import market share for the two time periods for 17 products. Finally, it subtracts the 12-month share from the three-month share and color codes the result green or red according to gains or losses. If the result of the subtraction is positive, it means that the import share is increasing, and the code is red. Most importantly, in regard to tubular and long products, the import market share has decreased in three months compared to 12 months across all product groups except for light shapes (0.2%) and cold finished bars (0.3%), which saw inconsequential increases through February 2021.
The historical import market share of tubular and total long products is shown in Figure 1, while the import market share of the four major tubular products is displayed in Figure 2. Lastly, the import market share of individual long products is shown in Figure 3. The import share of tubular products is more than triple that of long products. Both were impacted by COVID-19 mitigation efforts and have yet to return to pre-pandemic levels; however, tubular product shipments have been far more impacted than long products over that period. In February, wire rod was the sole long product to see a month-on-month increase in imports (19.3%), while mechanical tubing (19.1%) and OCTG (5.3%) were the only tubular products to see additional imported volumes in February when compared to the prior month.
SMU Comment: Imports of tubular goods and long products have not experienced increases as significant as those of sheet and plate products over the past year. With a pending new infrastructure bill, however, and overall rising demand, added volumes of foreign long products and tubular goods should be seen in the near-term.
By David Schollaert, David@SteelMarketUpdate.com
David Schollaert
Read more from David SchollaertLatest in Steel Products Prices North America
CRU: Longs pricing trends diverge in North, South America
Most longs prices in the US were unchanged this month, except for rebar, which declined by $1.50/cwt ($30/short ton) m/m. While end-use demand is stable, inventories are well-stocked, keeping purchases limited. Domestic availability is sufficient to meet current demand, hindering the appetite for imported material. Meanwhile, prices for scrap remained under pressure in June, with […]
Nucor cuts plate prices by $125/ton, cites ongoing competition
Nucor Corp. announced that its plate mill group would cut prices for as-rolled, discrete, and normalized plate with the opening of its August order book.
Nucor cuts HR price for fourth straight week
Nucor lowered its consumer spot price (CSP) for hot-rolled (HR) coil by another $10 per short ton (st) for the first week of July. The steelmaker said in a letter to customers on Monday that its CSP base price for the week will be $670/st for all of its sheet mills with the exception of California Steel Industries (CSI).
Cliffs sets $720/ton HR price with opening of August books
Cleveland-Cliffs on Tuesday announced its monthly hot-rolled (HR) coil price of $720 per short ton (st) with the official opening of its August order book. The rate is down from last month’s price of $800/st.
CRU: Demand weakness continues to weigh on global sheet markets
Demand has remained persistently weak across the globe for sheet steel, weighing on prices. US HR coil prices fell the furthest this week as high-volume, low-priced deals were transacted as mills looked to fill order books and competed with one another amid relative demand weakness. Meanwhile, European prices were also down due to low demand […]