US long products import licenses declined from a peak of 462,000 short tons in April to 238,000 short tons in May. About 65% of this decline is due to Turkey, which did not apply for any rebar or wire rod import licenses in May (nor did it in March). In comparison, Turkey’s rebar licenses were 105,000 short tons in April while wire rod licenses were about 39,000 short tons.
Licenses for long products imports into the US increased from 257,000 short tons in March to 462,000 short tons in April, reaching their highest levels since July 2007. Rebar licenses increased from 77,000 tons in March to 189,000 tons in April, mainly due to Turkey, which didn’t apply for any licenses in March but applied for about 95,000 tons in April. Wire rod licenses increased from 78,000 tons in March to 159,000 tons in April; about 35,000 tons due to an increase in licenses from Turkey and the remainder from other countries such as Germany and Brazil. The spreadsheet below will be updated with March actuals as soon as they are available.
Don’t miss the announcement about the ArcelorMittal and Borusan venture in Turkey. I am not surprised ArcelorMittal had something bigger planned in Turkey since they didn’t get what they wanted with Erdemir.
New User? Register here.
