U.S. Imports of Finished Steel Surged 15% in April

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The latest trade data released by the U.S. Census Bureau suggests notable jump in imports of total and finished steel by the country during April this year. The combined imports during the initial four-month period of the year too were up marginally, when compared with the corresponding period last year. It must be noted that the U.S. steel import permits had recorded massive jump in April.

Based on preliminary Census Bureau data, the U.S. steel imports in April 2018 totaled 3.738 million net tons (NT). This is 12.1% higher than the imports which had totaled 3.335 million NT in March 2018. The year-to-date steel imports were up marginally by 1.1% year-on-year from 12.306 Million NT in Jan-Apr ’17 to 12.436 Million NT during the first four months of 2018. The annualized total steel imports in 2018 are projected at 37.307 Million NT, slightly lower by 2.1% when compared with the 2017 imports of 38.126 Million NT.

Out of the total monthly imports, finished steel imports totaled 2.860 Million NT in April 2018. The imports of finished steel surged higher by more than 15% when compared with the previous year. The March 2018 imports had totaled only 2.485 Million NT. The cumulative finished steel imports totaled 9.696 Million NT during the first four months of 2018, which is marginally higher by 2.3% when compared with the imports of 9.476 Million NT. The key suppliers of finished steel to the U.S. were South Korea, Turkey, Vietnam and Germany.

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Line Pipes were the finished steel product to report highest jump in import volumes during April. The imports of the material surged higher by 86.7% when compared with the prior month. The other product to see notable increase in import volume was Heavy Structural Shapes, the imports of which were up by 56.6% when compared with March. Tin Plates reported nearly 53% jump in import volumes during the month. Reinforcing Bars (+47.2%) and Hot Rolled Bars (+38.5%) too reported significant increase in imports.