WASHINGTON: Previously, we looked at the Chinese steel industry’s demand-supply balance. Now, we’ll see how US steel production is shaping up this year. According to data released by the AISI, US steel production fell by 3.6% YoY (year-over-year) in the week ending September 10, 2016. US steel production has fallen by 1.3% on a year-to-date basis. This might sound intriguing because steel imports have fallen 25% YoY in the first seven months of the year.
However, most of this decline is due to a steep fall in steel imports between January and April. Steel imports have been rising gradually and rose to a one-year high in July. Notably, we’ve started to see a gradual fall in US steel production in the last couple of months. As steel imports have been slowly inching up on a month-over-month basis, US steel producers seem to be cutting their production levels.
