Based on reported import licenses, US flat products imports fell 9% from 965,000 short tons in August to 875,000 tons in September. Flat products imports in September 2015 were 975,000 tons and in September 2014 they were 1,387,000 tons. Imports of flat products for the first nine months of 2016 were 24% lower than in the same period last year.
Cold roll, hot roll, and cut plate imports all fell. Cold roll imports dropped significantly from Vietnam and Canada, while hot roll imports also fell from Canada, and finally, cut plate imports declined mainly from Korea, Turkey and Germany.
SIMA US imports licenses and actuals, flat products
January 2013 to September 2016
short tons
Worldsteel reported Chinese crude steel production at 68.6 million metric tonnes in August, 3.0% higher than in August 2015. Chinese crude steel output in the first eight months of 2016 was 0.2% higher than in the same period last year.
China’s net finished steel exports (exports minus imports) in August were about 8 million tonnes, 9% lower than in August 2015. The first eight months of 2016 recorded net exports 7% higher than in the first eight months of 2015.
China monthly crude steel production
January 2005 to August 2016
thousand metric tonnes
Worldsteel published August’s world crude steel production on September 21st. World crude steel output was 134.1 million metric tonnes, 1.9% higher than in August 2015. World crude steel production in the first eight months of 2016 was 0.7% lower than in the same period last year.
China accounted for 51% of world output in August with production of 68.6 million tonnes, up 3.0% compared to August 2015. Elsewhere in Asia, Indian output increased a significant 9.4% compared to last year. In Europe, production fell 1.4%, driven by a 37.5% decline in the UK. US production was down 3.4% while Turkish production rose 12.9%.
All the data for August 2016 and for a number of prior years can be found in the Nerds spreadsheet below.
Based on reported import licenses, US long products imports dropped 11% from 529,000 short tons in July to 470,000 tons in August. Long products imports in August 2015 were 458,000 tons and in August 2014 they were 378,000 tons. Longs imports for the first eight months of 2016 were 3% higher than in the same period last year.
The decline in long products imports between July and August was mainly due to lower rebar imports from Turkey though rebar imports from Peru also dropped significantly. Wire rod imports rose, however, with higher volumes from Belarus, Ukraine, Italy, Korea, Russia and Japan.
SIMA US long products import licenses and import actuals
2012 to 2016
short tons
Based on reported import licenses, US flat products imports fell 17% from 1,076,000 short tons in July to 890,000 tons in August. Flat products imports in August 2015 were 1,096,000 tons and in August 2014 they were 1,147,000 tons. Imports of flat products for the first eight months of 2016 were 27% lower than in the same period last year.
The drop in flats imports between July and August was mainly due to lower hot rolled imports from Korea, Japan and Turkey though imports of all flat products categories declined.
SIMA US import licenses and actuals, flat products
January 2013 to August 2016
short tons
Worldsteel reported Chinese crude steel production at 66.8 million metric tonnes in July, 2.6% higher than in July 2015. Crude steel output in the first seven months of 2016 was 0.2% lower than in the same period last year.
China’s net finished steel exports (exports minus imports) in July were 9.2 million tonnes, 5.6% higher than in July 2015. The first seven months of 2016 recorded net exports 9.8% higher than in the first seven months of 2015.
China monthly crude steel production
January 2005 to July 2016
thousand metric tonnes
