Lower flat volumes drag US steel imports down

Market: Metals
27/09/23

US steel imports fell 9pc in August, marking a 15th consecutive drop, according to preliminary data from the US Department of Commerce.

Total import volumes fell to 2.07mn metric tonnes (t) in August, the lowest since December 2022 and down from 2.28mn t a year earlier.
Import volumes of hot rolled coil, cold rolled coil, and hot dipped galvanized products dropped by double digits from a year earlier.
HRC imports were up from July, while CRC imports were down and HDG was mostly flat.
Import licenses for blooms, billets and slabs fell by 1.8pc after three months of increases. Volumes were down by more than 100,000t from the prior month.

By Rye Druzin

US steel preliminary imports, August 2023				metric tonnes
Product	Aug-23	Aug-22	Volume change	±%


HRC	156,806	189,570	-32,764	-17.3%
CRC	124,394	175,557	-51,163	-29.1%
HDG	166,299	222,655	-56,356	-25.3%
Blooms, billets, slabs	378,993	385,904	-6,911	-1.8%
Total (all items)*	2,066,878	2,278,625	-211,747	-9.3%
US Department of Commerce
August 2023 data is preliminary data, which is subject to change
*Total includes other items such as long products, other sheet types, and other steel items for consumption.

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