WASHINGTON: Steel shipments fell 2.1 percent nationally in July, and 10.6 percent year-over-year, amid the record influx of imports. Shipments reflect the amount of steel that steelmakers actually sell.
U.S. mills shipped 7.5 million net tons in July, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute. That’s a 2.1 percent decline from the 7.75 million net tons that were shipped in June and the 8.49 net tons shipped in July 2014.
The domestic steel industry has struggled all year, as imports have seized a record 31 percent market share. David Abshire, vice president of operations at LB Steel in Harvey, said the service centers that typically serve as the middlemen for steel would generally prefer to buy domestic product but are forced to acquire at least some imported metal or they risk being undercut on price by competitors.
Steelmakers, including ArcelorMittal and U.S. Steel, have filed trade cases against most major importers of corrosion-resistant, hot-rolled and cold-rolled steel. Domestic production of cold-rolled sheets declined by 1 percent in July, while hot-rolled sheets fell by 4 percent and hot-dipped galvanized sheets and strip decreased by 5 percent.
The United States isn’t the only country where steel output is flagging however. Internationally, global steel production fell by 3.8 percent as compared to July 2014, according to the World Steel Association. U.S. steel production was down 9.1 percent year-over-year. Steel output also fell in China, Japan, Turkey, Russia, Ukraine, Brazil and the Middle East.
Production in China, the world’s largest steel-producing nation by volume, was 4.6 percent as compared to July 2014. Global capacity stood at an anemic 68.4 percent, a year-over-year decline of 4.2 percent.
