Steel Products Prices North America

December Foreign Steel Imports Trending Towards 2.5 Million Tons

Written by Brett Linton

December 19, 2017

The U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) released updated import license data this evening. November license data continues to hover around 2.86 million net tons. Steel Market Update sees December license data trending toward 2.53 million net tons, down from our previous analysis of 2.64 million tons last week.

Semi-finished imports were previously trending about 200,000 tons higher than what we saw in November, but the trend has now returned to similar levels for December. Finished imports (total imports minus semi-finished products) are trending toward 1.97 million tons, up from our analysis last week but down compared to October and November levels.

All flat rolled products in the table below show a decline between November and December levels, with the exception of cut plate up 12.5 percent. Hot rolled is trending down 15.3 percent, cold rolled down 2.1 percent, galvanized down 16.2 percent, other metallic coated down 29.4 percent, and plate in coils down 31.7 percent. We will see how this changes as the DOC collects more import licenses throughout the month.

The table below uses final import data for the moving averages (through October) and final October data. November data is based on license data and will be finalized in two weeks. December data is derived from import licenses collected through the 19th, converted to a daily average rate, and assuming that rate will continue for the balance of the month.

Brett Linton

Brett Linton is a senior analyst for Steel Market Update, where he began his career. Linton has been in the steel industry since 2010. He has held roles as a category manager and strategic insights director at Reibus before returning to SMU in 2024. He is a graduate of The University of North Georgia with a degree in Finance and Accounting. Brett can be reached at brett@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-314-0179.

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