U.S. Steel Imports Plummeted 23% in May

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): Based on the preliminary import data published by the U.S. Census Bureau, the imports of steel by the country witnessed notable decline during the month of May this year. The U.S. steel imports totaled 2,886,609 net tons in May, down by 23.2% when matched with final imports data during the prior month. The finished steel imports were down by 16% to total 2,418,254 net tons during the month. The finished steel imports had totaled 2,877,379 net tons in April this year.

Through, the first five months of 2018, the U.S imported 15,341,726 net tons of steel, which is marginally lower by 2.7% when compared with the total imports of 15,772,774 net tons during the corresponding five-month period in 2017. The year-to-date finished steel imports jumped higher marginally by 0.4% from 12,082,938 net tons in 2017 to 12,132,048 net tons in 2018. The finished steel import market share was estimated at 26% during Jan-May ’18. Also, Census Bureau forecasts the annualized total and finished steel imports in 2018 by the US at 36.8 million net tons and 29.1 million net tons respectively.

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The finished steel product that reported biggest jump in import during May 2018, when compared with the prior month was wire rods, whose imports surged higher by 60.9%. The other products to report month-on-month jump in import volumes were tin plate (up 4.1%), cut length plates (up 3.4%) and mechanical tubing (up 0.1%). The product to report highest increase in imports during the year-to-date period was hot rolled sheets (up 36%), followed by mechanical tubing (up 23%), line pipe (up 20%) and oil country goods (up 19%).

Ingots and Billets and Slabs recorded the sharpest decline in monthly import quantity, declining by nearly 47% from the previous month. The other finished steel products that recorded significant decline in import volumes were line pipe (down 43.1%), standard pipe (down 37%) and heavy structural shapes (down 33.2%).