Steel Products Prices North America
August 19, 2014
August Imports Still Trending Toward Exceeding May Levels
Written by John Packard
Steel Market Update (SMU) analyzes foreign steel import license data on a weekly basis. From the data we can see where import tonnages are trending although we are not comfortable calling a specific number as the license data can be suspect until after the month is over. For the second week August license data is suggesting total steel imports could well exceed the May 4.0 million net ton level.
As always, the domestic steel mills continue to be the largest importers of foreign steel. Semi-finished steels are trending toward a 1 million net ton mark for the month. If this rate holds, slab imports will exceed both June and July levels as well as our 12 month moving average and 3 month moving average. Russia and Brazil are the two major importers with Mexico third.
