Based on reported import licenses, US long products imports fell 35% from 268,000 short tons in August 2019 to 174,000 tons in August this year. The decline was mainly due to lower wire rod imports from Japan, India and South Korea, as well as lower parallel flange sections imports from South Korea.
Based on January to July imports and August import licenses, long products imports so far this year were 21% lower than in the same period last year with the largest import volume declines coming from wire rod (-36%) and parallel flange sections (-48%).
SIMA US long products import licenses
January 2014 to August 2020
Short tons
Steel beams in shipping yard, Nucor Steel Berkley, from Worldsteel Image Library by worldsteel / Roger Ball
Looking for world motor vehicle production statistics to predict steel consumption by the auto industry? Have a look at the Steel Data Room dataset of the week, “Car Production Statistics”.
This dataset has world car and commercial vehicle production statistics by country 1999-2019 from the OICA, the International Organization of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers.
Looking for vehicles in use and sales data? The Steel Data Room has that information as well. Sign up for a free trial to easily create downloadable charts with all the steelmaking end-use data you are looking for.
Based on reported import licenses, US flat products imports fell 24% year-on-year from 638,000 short tons in August 2019 to 487,000 tons last month. Hot rolled imports declined by the largest volume, down 27%, mainly due to lower volumes from Canada. Cold rolled imports declined by the second largest volume, down 33% due to lower volumes from Australia and Vietnam.
Based on January to July imports and August import licenses, US flat products imports in the first eight months of 2020 were 21% lower than in the same period last year with cut plate imports down 44%, hot rolled down 21%, cold rolled down 23%, and hot dip galvanized down 13%.
SIMA US flat products import licenses
January 2014 to August 2020
Short tons
“Loading coils”, October 2006, from Wikimedia Commons by LHOON from Mechelen, Belgium / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)
Along with trade in total iron and steel products in the chart below, you can also use the Steel Data Room to analyze trade in more specific steel products, such as semis, bars and rods, and sheets and plates. To see what data is available and how you can expertly download the results, try our free Steel Data Room trial.
Check out this week’s Steel Data Room featured dataset, “World Mineral Production from 1970”. The data from British Geological Survey can be expertly analyzed in the Steel Data Room, including production of key steelmaking raw materials such as iron ore, coal and zinc, with data by country from 1970 to 2018.
The image below is static, but if you sign in for a free Steel Data Room trial, the dynamic ranking chart will illustrate how the top 10 iron ore producing countries have changed since 1980.
Worldsteel reported crude steel production in China at 93.4 million metric tonnes in July, 9.1% higher than in July 2019. Chinese production in the first seven months of 2020 was 3.3% higher than in the same period last year.
Data from the General Administration of Customs show Chinese net finished steel exports (exports minus imports) in July were 1.6 million tonnes, 66.8% lower than in July 2019. Net exports in the first seven months of 2020 were 31.2% lower than in the same period last year.
China monthly crude steel production
Thousand metric tonnes
Terminal 3 Station at Beijing Capital International Airport, 2009, from Wikimedia Commons by 颐园新居 / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)
