SMU Survey: Domestic Buyers Could Increase Their Foreign Tonnage in 2015

One of the biggest issues that has been holding the domestic steel mill lead times (and prices) in check during calendar year 2014 is the amount of foreign steel coming into the United States. SMU recently reported the U.S. received 4.4 million net tons of imports during the month of October and license data is suggesting November will be around 3.8 million net tons. Both the October and November tonnages are quite high by historical standards.

At the same time the AISI has been reporting mill capacity utilization rates around 76-78 percent with very little movement, even though the economy is growing as is apparent steel usage. Foreign steel has been capturing much, if not all, of the growth.