Foreign Steel Imports Rise in January

January foreign steel imports were finalized yesterday at 2,879,076 net tons (2,611,857 metric tons), according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. This is up 17.5 percent from December, and up 4.2 percent from November. It is also slightly greater than import levels seen in January 2017 (2,814,233 tons). Current February license data has imports down 15.4 percent over January. It is too early in the month to gather any useful information from March data.

Semi-finished imports (blooms, billets and slabs) remained steady (up 0.1 percent) from December to January at 525,363 tons. February license data suggests a decrease of 24.7 percent.

Brett Linton

Brett Linton is a digital operations 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.

Brett Linton

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