U.S. Finished Steel Imports Slumped 10% Through July
Steel News | 2018-08-28 07:58:56
The largest exporter of finished steel products to the U.S in July ’18 was South Korea.
By Paul Ploumis
SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The latest statistics published by the U.S. Census Bureau suggests considerable decline in imports of total and finished steel by the country through the first seven months of 2018. The year-to-date imports witnessed decline, though the standalone monthly import data in July ’18 stood significantly higher over the final imports in June ’18.
According to data, the U.S. imported a total of 2.978 million net tons (NT) of steel in July this year, comprising of 2.179 million NT of finished steel. The total and finished steel imports surged higher by 19.4% and 17.5% respectively, when compared with the final imports during the prior month. The estimated market share of finished steel on overall imports stood at 23% in July ’18.
The year-to-date total and finished steel imports totaled 20.862 million NT and 16.190 million NT, down by 10.1% and 10% respectively, when compared with the corresponding seven-month period in 2017. The finished steel market share during the year-to-date period was estimated at 25%. The U.S. imports of finished steel had collapsed 25% in June this year.
The finished steel product to record highest jump in import volumes during July this year was reinforcing bar, the imports of which skyrocketed by nearly 214%, upon comparison with June. The imports of heavy structural shapes surged higher by 123%. The other products to witness notable jump in import volume were tin plates and hot rolled sheets, whose imports were up by 55% and 44% respectively.
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The largest exporter of finished steel products to the U.S in July ’18 was South Korea. The imports from that country totaled 189,000 NT. In second place was Japan with 132,000 NT, followed by Vietnam with 118,000 NT. South Korea, Japan and Germany were the top three suppliers of finished steel products to the U.S. during the first seven months of 2018.
At the current rate, the total and finished steel imports are likely to total 35.763 million NT and 27.755 million NT respectively.
