Steel Products Prices North America
Steel Imports Down 20 Percent for the Year
Written by Tim Triplett
October 8, 2020
Steel imports declined by more than 20 percent in the first nine months of 2020, including a nearly 27 percent drop in finished steel imports, reports the American Iron and Steel Institute. The estimated finished steel import market share for the year to date is 18 percent, down from 19 percent in full-year 2019.
Including September SIMA import permits, steel imports totaled 17.9 million tons for the year through last month, a decline of 20.7 percent. That figure includes 12.3 million tons of finished steel imports, a decline of 26.8 percent compared with the same period in 2019.
Products that have seen significant increases in imports this year compared with 2019 include tin free steel, up 24 percent, and light shapes bars, up 18 percent. The largest offshore suppliers through the first nine months were: South Korea (1,491,000 tons, down 27 percent); Japan (581,000 tons, down 43 percent); and Germany (528,000 tons, down 37 percent), reports AISI.
The relatively low levels of imports this year have helped to tighten supplies and contributed to higher steel prices.
Tim Triplett
Read more from Tim TriplettLatest 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 […]