Based on reported import licenses, US flat products imports dropped 7% from 429,000 short tons in October (according to preliminary census figures) to 398,000 short tons in November. This can be compared to 641,000 tons of imports in November 2008.
Hot rolled and cold rolled imports both grew at 1% between October and November. Cut plate imports, however, dropped 42% to 23,000 tons mainly due to lower imports from Canada. Hot dip galvanized imports also dropped significantly by 21% to 70,000 tons due to reduced imports from Canada, Korea, and Taiwan.
December flat products import licenses reported up to December 8th were 120,000 tons. It’s too early in December to try to predict full-month December figures but I will update the graph below after next Tuesday’s license update which will give us a clearer picture of likely full-month results.