Steel Products Prices North America
February 23, 2016
February Steel Imports Trending Toward 2.3 Million Tons
Written by John Packard
The U.S. Department of Commerce updated foreign steel import license data this afternoon (February 23rd). Based on a daily license rate of 81,355 tons, February is trending toward 2.2-2.3 million tons. This is slightly lower than the 2.4 million ton pace we saw based on license data through the 16th of February. At 2.3 million tons, if it holds up when the final count is in, it will be well below both the 12 month-moving average of 3.2 million tons as well as the 3 month moving average of 2.6 million.
When looking at flat rolled license data we are seeing hot rolled trending lower (Preliminary Determination on antidumping ruling is due in March), cold rolled appears to be stabilizing around 150-160,000 tons (Preliminary Determination on AD due next week), galvanized and Galvalume continue to drop below their 12MMA and 3MMA levels.
