Worldsteel published April’s world crude steel production on May 20th. World crude steel output was 134.9 million metric tonnes, 0.5% lower than in April 2015. World crude production for the first four months of 2016 was 2.5% lower than in the same period last year.
China accounted for 51% of world production in April with output of 69.4M tonnes, up 0.5% compared to April 2016. In Asia outside of China, output compared to last April increased 1.0%. European Union production fell 5.2% over the same period, following a 26.5% drop in France and a 24.1% decline in the UK. In the Americas, Brazilian output fell 20.6% compared to April 2015 and US production increased 2.5%.
All the data for April 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 fell 15% from 511,000 short tons in March to 432,000 tons in April. Long products imports in April 2015 were 516,000 tons and in April 2014 they were 505,000 tons. Longs imports for the first 4 months of 2016 were 8% lower than in the same period last year.
The drop in long products imports between March and April 2016 was mainly due to lower rebar imports from Turkey and despite an increase in rebar volumes from Russia and Japan.
Long products licenses for May as reported mid-month on May 17th were 268,000 tons.
SIMA US long products import licenses and import actuals
2012 to 2016
short tons
Based on reported import licenses, US flat products imports rose 10% from 784,000 short tons in March to 864,000 tons in April. Flat products imports in April 2015 were 1,088,000 tons and in April 2014 they were 1,055,000 tons. Imports of flat products for the first four months of 2016 were 31% lower than in the same period last year.
The increase between March and April was driven by higher cold roll imports with significantly higher volumes from Turkey, Sweden and Vietnam. Hot roll and hot dip galvanized imports also rose, while cut plate imports fell due mainly to lower imports from France and Germany.
I will update the chart below to show mid-May licenses when the figures are published the week of May 16th.
SIMA US import licenses and actuals, flat products
January 2013 to April 2016
short tons
We now have Q1 2016 earnings for ArcelorMittal, Gerdau, SSAB, and TimkenSteel in the Nerds of Steel earnings spreadsheet. All four mills reported better EBITDA per ton in Q1 that they reported in Q4 of last year. Gerdau reported $59 of EBITDA per ton shipped in Q1, up from $46 in Q4 2015. The performance of SSAB and ArcelorMittal was good enough to turn negative EBITDA in Q4 into positive EBITDA in Q1. SSAB went from negative $34 to positive $49, while ArcelorMittal went from negative $33 to positive $39. TimkenSteel remained in negative EBITDA per ton territory, but improved from negative $74 to negative $4.
Yesterday AK Steel, Ternium, and US Steel announced Q1 2016 earnings and we added their results to the Nerds of Steel quarterly earnings spreadsheet. Ternium turned in another strong quarter, recording $125 of EBITDA per ton shipped, up from $102 in Q4 last year. AK Steel’s EBITDA per ton shipped fell in Q1 of this year to $65 from $108 in Q4 last year. US Steel continued to struggle, reporting negative $48 of EBITDA per ton, slightly worse than the negative $45 recorded in Q4 last year.
First quarter earnings season is underway and we have data for CMC, Nucor and Steel Dynamics. Steel Dynamics leads the pack so far with EBITDA per ton of $97, up from $62 in Q4 2015. CMC, which reported earnings for the quarter ended Feb 2016, had EBITDA per ton of $83, down from $96 last quarter. Nucor’s EBITDA per ton fell in Q1 to $62, down from $102 in Q4 2015. More mills will be announcing earnings this week so stay tuned for updates.
