Based on reported import licenses, US long steel products imports rose 3% from 327,000 short tons in July to 337,000 tons in August. Licenses show wire rod imports rising significantly in August from Turkey, Vietnam, Germany and South Korea. This was offset by lower rebar import licenses from Italy and Spain (and despite higher rebar licenses from Turkey) as well as lower parallel flange sections import licenses from Luxembourg and the United Arab Emirates.
Long products imports in the first eight months of 2018 were 26% lower than in the same period last year, led by a 30% drop in wire rod imports and a 21% fall in rebar imports.
SIMA US long products import licenses
2012 to 2018
short tons
Photo from Worldsteel Association Image Library by worldsteel / Seong Joon Cho, Image ID 284
Based on reported import licenses, US flat steel products imports fell 17% from 853,000 short tons in July to 711,000 tons in August. Out of our four main flat products categories, hot rolled imports fell by the largest volume, with significantly lower imports from Japan, Turkey and South Korea. Cold rolled imports fell mainly from Australia and Vietnam. Only cut plate imports rose following higher volumes from South Korea.
Flat products imports for the first eight months of 2018 were 7% lower than in the same period last year with declines in cold rolled (-26%), hot dip galvanized (-14%), and cut plate (-22%) imports offsetting a rise in hot rolled imports (+17%).
SIMA US flat products imports licenses
January 2013 to August 2018
short tons
Photo from Worldsteel Association Image Library by worldsteel / Robert Kolykhalov, Image ID 476
Worldsteel reported Chinese crude steel production at 81.2 million metric tonnes in July, 7.2% higher than in July 2017. Chinese output over the first seven months of 2018 was 6.4% higher than in the same period last year.
Chinese net finished steel exports (exports minus imports) in July were 4.9 million tonnes, 18.7% lower than in July 2017. Net exports in the first seven months of 2018 were 16.2% lower than in the first seven months of 2017.
China monthly crude steel production
January 2006 to July 2018, thousand metric tonnes
Photo by Daniel Case [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], from Wikimedia Commons
Worldsteel published July’s world crude steel production on August 27th. World steel output was 154.6 million metric tonnes, 5.8% higher than in July 2017. Crude steel production in the first seven months of 2018 was 5.1% higher than in the same period last year.
China accounted for 53% of world output in July with production of 81.2 million tonnes, 7.2% higher than in July 2017. Asian output outside of China grew 3.7% following increases in India (+8.0%), Vietnam (+36.1%) and Taiwan (+12.2%). European Union production rose 3.9% due to increases in Germany (+10.9%), Spain (+20.1%) and the United Kingdom (+26.9%). In the NAFTA region, US production rose 4.5%, Mexican output was up 3.0%, but Canadian production fell 9.3%. Other notable changes compared to last July include increases in Ukraine (+11.4%), Brazil (+6.7%), Iran (+13.2%), and Saudi Arabia (+39.5%).
Photo by Pablo Malamud (Absalon27) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
Based on reported import licenses, US long steel products imports are expected to rise 84% from 190,000 short tons in June to 350,000 tons in July. This is following a 223% rise in rebar import licenses in July, due mainly to higher licenses from Italy and Spain. In addition, parallel flange sections licenses rose 270% due to higher license volumes from the United Arab Emirates, South Korea, and Luxembourg.
Based on January-to-June imports and July import licenses, long products imports in the first seven months of 2018 were 28% lower than in the same period last year, led by a 35% drop in wire rod imports and a 27% fall in rebar imports.
SIMA US long products import licenses
2012 to 2018
short tons
Photo by W.carter [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], from Wikimedia Commons
Based on reported import licenses, US flat steel products imports increased 16% from 743,000 short tons in June to 859,000 tons in July. The largest volume increase came from hot rolled imports, with volumes increasing from Canada, Japan, and the Netherlands. Cold rolled and cut plate imports also increased, but hot dip galvanized imports fell, primarily due to lower imports from Vietnam.
Flat products imports for the first seven months of 2018 were 5% lower than in the same period last year with declines in cold rolled (-22%), hot dip galvanized (-12%), and cut plate (-21%) imports offsetting an increase in hot rolled imports (+19%).
SIMA US flat products import licenses
January 2013 to July 2018
short tons
Cold rolled coils packaged in storage
Photo from Worldsteel Association Image Library by worldsteel / Seong Joon Cho, Image Ref: worldsteel_posco_south-korea_final-product_8.jpg
