US steel imports are expected to continue to fall in December, driven by lower flat and semi-finished volumes.
Steel import volumes may decline to 1.98mn metric tonnes (t), according to license data for December deliveries from the US Department of Commerce.
That would be down by 24pc from the 2.62mn t actually imported in December 2021 but up by 8.7pc from November's preliminary figures.
Licenses are filed with the intent of actually importing, although the volumes of actual imports can fluctuate.
Licenses filed for flat products totaled 726,900t, down by 38pc compared to the 1.16mn t imported in the prior year. Most of the declines were led by hot rolled coil (HRC) and hot dipped galvanized (HDG) coil, which were down by 51pc and 44pc, respectively.
Semi-finished steel licenses are down by 48pc to 294,100t, with slab licenses plunging to 78,600t, a 79pc decline compared to the 369,700t imported a year prior.
