Steel Products Prices North America
June 12, 2015
Letter to the Editor: Surprised at Early June Import License Levels
Written by John Packard
An executive with a large service center group penned us some thoughts about the market (prior to the SSAB plate price increase) on Wednesday of this past week.
“I was surprised at the June import-rate figures, with the forecast/possibility of 3+ million tons. It doesn’t seem like imports are falling as fast as expected for flat rolled and semi. Then, when considering the return of BF melt at USS and AM, along with many Minis moving back to 2 casters when they can, it seems like supply is staying above demand enough to prevent lead-times from moving out with greater momentum than we’ve seen. It’s also worth considering whether mills are running any tons ahead due to labor contracts, which expire in 11 weeks. If they are and there’s no interruption, it will reduce mill production requirements in the fall.
