Based on reported import licenses, US long products imports rose 1% from 408,000 short tons in July to 414,000 tons in August. Long products imports in August 2014 were 378,000 tons and in August 2013 they were 284,000 tons. Longs imports for the first eight months of 2015 were 11% higher than in the same period last year.
Longs products imports were basically flat because rebar imports declined by about the same amount as wire rod imports rose (between 35,000 and 40,000 tons), while import volumes of other products showed little change. Rebar imports fell significantly from Turkey, which was partially offset by higher rebar imports from Japan and Peru. Wire rod imports rose mainly from Japan, Korea, South Africa and Brazil, while they declined from Turkey.
Long products licenses for September as reported mid-month on September 15th were 179,000 tons, which is likely to mean that full-month September imports will be lower than August’s.
SIMA US long products import licenses and actuals
2012-2015
short tons
Based on reported import licenses, US flat products imports fell 13% from 1,192,000 short tons in July to 1,032,000 tons in August. Flat products imports in August 2014 were 1,147,000 tons and in August 2013 they were 767,000 tons. Imports of flat products over the first eight months of 2015 were 10% higher than in the same period last year, with cut plate imports rising 6%, hot roll imports up 6%, cold roll imports up 10% and hot dip galvanized imports up 19%.
Imports of all flat product categories declined between July and August 2015 with the highest volume drops from hot dip galvanized (down 17%, about 60,000 tons) and cut plate (down 34%, about 40,000 tons).
I will update the chart below to show mid-September licenses when the figures are published the week of September 14th.
SIMA US Import Licenses and Actuals, Flat Products
August 2012 to August 2015
short tons
Worldsteel published July’s world crude steel production on August 20th. World crude steel production was 133.2 million metric tonnes, 3.9% lower than in July 2014. World output for the first 7 months of 2015 was 2.0% lower than in the same period last year.
China accounted for 49% of world production in July with output of 65.8 million tonnes, down 4.6% compared to July 2014. Another significant decline in Asia included a 4.9% production drop in Japan. And while the European Union Countries showed a 0.3% increase from last year, Italian output fell by 11.6%. Other notable changes between July 2014 and July 2015 included a 10.4% drop in Turkey, a 24.1% fall in the Ukraine, and a 9.1% decline in the United States.
All the data for July 2015 and for a number of prior years can be found in the Nerds spreadsheet below.
Based on reported import licenses, US long products imports increased 19% from 359,000 short tons in June to 427,000 tons in July. Long products imports in July 2014 were 314,000 tons and in July 2013 they were 319,000 tons. Longs imports for the first 7 months of 2015 were 12% higher than in the same period last year.
The increase in long products imports in July was driven by higher rebar imports from Turkey, and despite a significant drop in rebar imports from Japan.
Long products licenses for August as reported mid-month on August 18th were 276,000 tons, which is likely to mean that full-month August imports will be a bit higher than July’s.
SIMA US long products imports licenses and import actuals
2012 to 2015
short tons
After an extended hiatus, we are reintroducing the Nerds of Steel earnings spreadsheet, which tracks EBITDA and operating income per ton for major NA steel producing companies. We will update the spreadsheet and chart on a quarterly basis. The chart below shows EBITDA per ton for Q1 and Q2 2015 by company. The spreadsheet behind the graph contains the supporting data, for 2015 and prior years. Hope this is useful to our readers.
2015 EBITDA per ton
Based on reported import licenses, US flat products imports rose 6% from 1,076,000 short tons in June to 1,140,000 tons in July. Flat products imports in July 2014 were 1,359,000 tons and in July 2013 they were 678,000 tons. Imports of flat products over the first 7 months of 2015 were 12% higher than in the same period last year, with cut plate imports up 14%, hot roll imports up 8%, cold roll imports up 12%, and hot dip galvanized up 20%.
The rise in flat products imports between June and July was mainly due to higher hot dip galvanized and cold roll imports, in both cases with increased volume mainly from China.
I will update the chart below to show mid-August licenses when the figures are published the week of August 17th.
SIMA US import licenses and actuals, flat products
July 2012 to July 2015
short tons
