Steel Products Prices North America

September Steel Imports Total 2.8 Million Tons
Written by John Packard
November 17, 2013
The U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) released Final Census Data on steel imports for the month of September. Total imports (all products) were reported to be 2,818,675 net tons which is down slightly from the 2,878,367 net tons received during the month of August.
Compared to last September (2012) there were 215,624 more tons received during September 2013 than last year.
October imports are forecast to be 1,682,822 net tons. However, the DOC reported that they did not collect license data from October 1st through October 16th. According to the DOC website the September and October license data are incomplete.
The most noticeable reduction in tonnage was oil country tubular goods (OCTG) which dropped 106,532 net tons from August to September.
We also saw reductions in semi-finished (mostly slabs) which fell 21,507 net tons in September compared to August.
Hot rolled coils recorded their largest month compared to the past 12 months have received 300,257 net tons in September. This is up 6,163 tons over August totals for the product.
Cold rolled coils were slightly lower in September than August as the U.S. imported 107,263 net tons.
Galvanized coil imports totaled 182,246 net tons in September which is down 13,324 net tons from the 195,570 net tons received in August.
Other metallic (mostly Galvalume) imports totaled 52,067 net tons during September, down from the 71,653 net tons received in August.
Also of note were plates in cut lengths and coils, both of which saw import increases during the month of September. Combined the two accounted for 216,371 net tons which is up from the 149,483 net tons reported during the month of August.
Based on license data collected through the 14th of November, the month is projected to come in around 2.9 million net tons. If that ends up being correct, it will be the highest total in the past 12 months and the largest amount of steel imports since May 2012.

John Packard
Read more from John PackardLatest in Steel Products Prices North America

Nucor slows HRC price climb with $5/ton increase
After eight weeks of double-digit price increases on hot-rolled (HR) coil, Nucor slowed the price rise this week with an increase of $5 per short ton.

Domestic CRC prices surge ahead of imports
The price spread between stateside-produced CR and imports reached its widest margin in over a year.

Evraz raises plate prices $160/ton
Evraz North America (NA) has followed Nucor and SSAB with a plate price increase of its own: up $160 per short ton (st). The increase was effective immediately for all new orders of carbon, high-strength low-alloy, and normalized and quenched-and-tempered plate products, as well as for hot-rolled coil, the steelmaker said in a letter to […]

Nucor lifts HR coil to $820/ton
Nucor has increased its consumer spot price (CSP) for hot-rolled (HR) coil for a fourth consecutive week.

Nucor pushes HR spot price to $790/ton
Nucor increased its consumer spot price (CSP) for hot-rolled (HR) coil to $790 per short ton (st) on Monday, Feb. 10 – a $15/st bump vs. last week. The Charlotte, N.C.-based company has raised its weekly CSP by $40/st over the past three weeks after maintaining tags at $750/st since Nov. 12, according to SMU’s […]