Foreign Steel Imports Took All Domestic Demand Growth & Then Some

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This report compares domestic mill shipments and total supply to the market to enable a side by side comparison and the degree to which foreign steel imports have absorbed demand. Sources are the American Iron and Steel Institute and the Department of Commerce with analysis by SMU. Table 1 shows both supply and mill shipments of sheet products, (shipments includes exports) side by side as a three month average for the periods December 2014 through February 2015 year over year. Comparing these two periods total supply to the market was up by 4.4 percent as mill shipments were down by 1.9 percent. In other words, imports took all of the demand growth and then some. Table 1 breaks down the total into the individual sheet products.