Based on reported import licenses, US flat products imports increased 8% in January to 514,000 short tonnes compared to December actuals of 474,000 tons. Licenses reported up to 17 February reached 347,000 tons, which indicates that full-month imports for February should climb significantly.
I will now be reporting monthly US import license data for flat products, as I do for long products. I report the monthly results about two weeks after the month-end (so January results at mid-February) and also give mid-month results for the current month.
License data comes from the website of the import administration called SIMA, which updates the data every Tuesday. We have found that license data reported two weeks after month-end is an excellent predictor of actual imports, though actual import results which come from the Department of Commerce trail the month end by six weeks.