Based on reported import licenses, US flat products imports fell 5% from 1,329,000 short tons in November to 1,268,000 tons in December. Flat products imports in December 2013 were 738,000 tons and in December 2012 they were 721,000 tons. Based on the recent licenses report, full-year 2014 flat products imports were 14,233,000 tons, 69% higher than 8,438,000 tons in 2013 and 60% higher than 8,917,000 tons in 2012.
The decline in December was mainly due to lower hot dip galvanized and cold rolled imports. Hot dip galvanized imports fell about 10% from a number of countries including India, Italy, and China, while cold rolled imports fell just under 10%. Cut plate and hot roll imports were flat between November and December.
I will update the chart below to show mid-January license data when the figures are published the week of January 12th.
SIMA US import licenses and actuals, flat products
December 2011 to December 2014
short tons
Worldsteel reported Chinese crude steel production at 63.3 million metric tonnes in November, 0.2% lower than in November 2013 based on revised figures for November 2013. January-to-November crude steel production for 2014 was 2.0% higher than in the same period last year.
China’s net finished steel exports (exports-imports) in November were another record at 8.6 million tonnes, which is 129% higher than in November 2013. Net exports over crude steel production in November reached 14%, compared to 6% in November 2013 and an average of 7% between January 2012 and November 2014. Year-to-November 2014 net finished steel exports were 60% higher in 2014 than in 2013.
China monthly crude steel production
November 2004 to November 2014
thousand metric tonnes
Worldsteel published November’s world crude steel production on December 19th. World crude steel production was 130.5 million metric tonnes, 0.1% higher than in November 2013. Production for the months of January to November 2014 were 1.9% higher than in the same period last year.
China accounted for 48% of world crude steel production in November with output of 63.3 million tonnes, down 0.2% on November last year. Significant growth year-on-year elsewhere in Asia included a 5% production increase in India and Taiwan and a 6% rise in South Korea. In the CIS, Russian production increased 6% between November 2013 and November 2014 and in the Ukraine, production fell 29%. In the NAFTA region, output in the US increased 2% and in Mexico, production was up 9%. In contrast, production in the European Union fell 0.7% driven by a 14% drop in Italian output, and finally, Turkish production was down 9%.
All the data for November 2014 and for a number of prior years can be found in the Nerds spreadsheet below.
Based on reported import licenses, and after an increase in October, US long products imports declined 18% from 494,000 short tons in October to 405,000 tons in November. November 2014 long products imports were 33% higher than in November 2013 and January-to-November longs imports were 25% higher than in the same period last year.
The fall in November was mainly due to lower wire rod imports, where volumes were lower mainly from Turkey, but also from the UK, and despite increases from the Ukraine and Spain. All other long product categories had lower imports except rebar, where imports grew about 10% on higher volumes from Spain and Turkey.
Long products licenses for December as reported December 16th were 182,000 tons, which is likely to mean that full-month December imports will be a bit lower than November’s.
SIMA US long products import licenses and import actuals
2012 to 2014
short tons
Based on reported import licenses, US flat products imports declined 9% from 1,538,000 short tons in October to 1,395,000 tons in November. Flat products imports in November 2013 were 676,000 tons and in November 2012 they were 745,000 tons. Flats imports for the first 11 months of 2014 were 69% higher than in the same period last year.
Hot rolled imports declined by about 10%, mainly due to lower volumes from Japan and Russia and despite significant increases from a number of countries including Australia. In addition, cold rolled imports dropped by almost 20% due mostly to lower imports from China. Hot dip galvanized imports also fell, by about 10%, with significant declines particularly from China and in this case despite a large increase from India. Cut plate was the only flat product category showing higher imports in November.
I will update the chart below to show mid-December license data when the figures are published the week of December 15th.
SIMA US import licenses and actuals, flat products
November 2011 to November 2014
short tons
Worldsteel just initiated its campaign promoting the cleanliness and recyclability of steel, as well as its importance in the world economy. We thought you might be interested. The promotional poster is below but have a look at the full video which is also available in Chinese, Spanish, German, Russian and Korean.
