Steel Products Prices North America
January Imports Top 4.2 Million Tons, February Trending Toward 3.9 Million Tons
Written by John Packard
February 26, 2015
The U.S. Department of Commerce released the latest steel import licensing data for February as well as the Preliminary Census Data for the month of January 2015. January imports are being reported as being 4,250,041 net tons (3.9 million metric tons). This is up 32.6 percent compared to one year ago. Hot rolled imports, even without Russian material, rose to their highest monthly level seen since 2006. OCTG continued to be strong, even with the crash in oil prices. These foreign tons will weigh heavily as inventories build at the docks and in the distributor’s warehouses.
The February license data through February 24th show a continuation of a strong import trend for the month. Our simple projection based on the daily licenses average has the month trending toward a 3.7-3.9 million net ton month.
The table below provides you with a look at the 12 month moving average (12MMA), 3 month moving average (3MMA), as well as the total imports for December (Final Census Data) and January (Preliminary Census Data through February 25th) and what we mathematically calculate as the trend for February. The February trend is done by taking the daily license rate and extrapolating it over the entire month.
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 […]