Steel Products Prices North America
April Steel Imports at 3.5 Million Tons
Written by John Packard
May 26, 2015
The US Department of Commerce released preliminary census import data today (Tuesday) for the month of April. Steel Market Update (SMU) has analyzed the data for April and we have also revised our Trend Analysis for foreign steel imports for the month of May based on license data received through today.
April Preliminary Census data has the month receiving just shy 3.5 million tons (net tons) which is 133,118 tons fewer than the month of March but are down 6.8 percent compared to April 2014. April tonnages were also below both the 12 month and 3 month moving averages which we show in the table below. That’s the good news.
The bad news is cold rolled tonnage continues to exceed both the 3MMA and 12MMA as the Chinese (and others) increase their exposure to the U.S. markets. Galvalume is another product facing increasing tonnage numbers as the 115,832 tons reported today exceed both the 3MMA and 12MMA.
When looking at the month of May (based on license data which is much less accurate than the Preliminary Census data) we believe the month will be similar to slightly lower than the month of April when all of the numbers finally come in. May is trending toward a 3.4 million ton month and we think it will come in at 3.2 to 3.4 million tons when all is said and done.
The areas of concern that we are seeing in May’s numbers are for hot rolled, which appears will come in close to the 3MMA and 12MMA. The galvanized numbers are quite strong trending toward 350,000 tons (which would be close to March’s levels). Galvalume continues to be an issue as well.
The table below compares the latest license data through May 26th to the same respective periods for the previous four months. This data is broken into tons per day for an easier comparison.
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 […]