US steel imports in June likely fell from a year earlier, according to preliminary data, which would be the first year-over-year decline in 14 months.
Steel imports may fall to 2.53mn metric tonnes in June, according to license data from the US Department of Commerce, which would be down by 3.5pc compared to the 2.62mn t imported in June 2021 but up by 1.4pc from May this year. The year-over-year drop would be the first since April 2021. Licenses are filed with the intent of actually importing, although not all of the trade arrives in the month for which the licenses are filed.
Imports since May 2021 have been rising on the year, buoyed by elevated domestic steel prices. The Argus US hot rolled coil (HRC) assessment averaged $1,619/st in 2021, compared to the HRC import ddp Houston price of $1,356/st. The price spread has narrowed so far in 2022, with US HRC averaging $1,289/st in the year through 5 July compared to an average import price of $1,145/st.
June semi-finished steel imports licenses fell by 26pc on the year to 536,300t on lower slab imports, according to the Commerce Department data.
Flat-rolled import licenses fell to 937,800t, down by 2.8pc from June 2021, with a 28pc drop in HRC imports driving the decline.
