December Imports Down 9% - January Imports Bounce Back to 2.666 Million Net Tons

The U.S. Department of Commerce released final census data for the month of December and found that total steel imports were down 9 percent when compared to the previous month. Major drops were reported in hot dipped galvanized (HDG) which fell by 30 percent compared to November, cold rolled which dropped by 17 percent and plates in cut lengths which dropped by 12 percent. However, the news was not all good for the domestic steel producers as hot rolled sheet imports rose by 41.45 percent (although the domestic mills are major importers of this product themselves) and the single largest line item on the import chart continues to be semi-finished (slabs & billets) which are all imported by the domestic steel mills.