Import market share 27 percent in April
Year-to-date (YTD) total and finished steel imports are 13,451,000 and 9,894,000 NT, respectively, up 29 percent and 20 percent respectively, vs. 2013. Finished steel import market share was an estimated 27 percent in April and is estimated at 26 percent YTD.
Key finished steel products with a significant import increase in April compared to March are wire rods (up 71 percent), heavy structural shapes (up 43 percent), line pipe (up 34 percent), cold rolled sheets (up 27 percent), standard pipe (up 24 percent), hot rolled bars (up 21 percent) and plates in coils (up 14 percent).
Major products with significant YTD import increases vs. the same period last year include wire rods (up 113 percent), plates in coils (up 68 percent), cold rolled sheets (up 52 percent), reinforcing bars (up 47 percent), sheets and strip all other metallic coatings (up 41 percent), sheets and strip galvanized hot dipped (up 35 percent), hot rolled sheets (35 percent), mechanical tubing (31 percent), oil country goods (up 15 percent) and cut lengths plates (up 13 percent).
In April, the largest volumes of finished steel imports from offshore were all from Asia and Europe. They were from China (416,000 NT, up 108 percent vs. March final), South Korea (401,000 NT, up 16 percent), Japan (210,000 NT, up 23 percent), Turkey (138,000 NT, down 19 percent) and Russia (106,000 NT, up 6 percent). For four months of 2014, the largest offshore suppliers were South Korea (1,567,000 NT, up 27 percent), China (983,000 NT, up 76 percent), Japan (707,000 NT, up 8 percent), Turkey (607,000 NT, up 30 percent) and Russia (393,000 NT, up 295 percent).
Published in the July 2014 Edition of American Recycler News