Steel Products Prices North America
September 26, 2013
Total Steel Imports Up 13.9% in August
Written by John Packard
The headline you are seeing both here and in other trade publications is total steel imports are up 13.9 percent in August based on just released Preliminary Census Data from the U.S. Department of Commerce. Total imports rose from 2,520,506 net tons in July to 2,870,266 net tons in August.
When looking at flat rolled, we are seeing early signs of increases in cold rolled which was up 40.52 percent compared to July and is forecast to be up 39.20 percent in September based on our projections of preliminary license data. Most of the increase in cold rolled can be attributed to South Korea which shipped 5,632 tons in July and then increased to 27,132 tons during August. We are projecting Korea to drop down closer to their 14,000 ton average during September.
