SBQ final imports to the U.S. were down 13.6% in 2018, year on year (y/y), totaling 281,667 tons YTD ending July 2018. July 2018 SBQ final imports came in at tons, 39,042 or 3.6% lower than the 40,478 tons in June.

There are nineteen HTS codes that contribute to our definition of SBQ. The top six account for 62% of the total. These include: SBQ Round (0.25 - 0.6 Carbon) < 76mm Dia. = 5,083 tons, Coil (>0.1% lead) = 5,052 tons, Other SBQ = 3,927 tons, Round (Cold Finished, <0.1% lead) = 3,740 tons and Round (Cold finished, >0.1% lead) = 3,621tons

Figure 1 charts the largest exporting countries in rank order YTD (January-July) for both 2018 and 2017. Canada was the largest exporter in July 2018 with 80,358 tons, down 25.2% year on year, (y/y). Germany sent 49,973 tons to the U.S. in July 2018, down 4.6% y/y. France ranked third with 36,513 tons down 4.0% y/y. The following ranked countries for imports included were Spain (down 11.6% y/y), China (up 54.8% y/y), Italy (17.5% y/y), Brazil down 61.2% y/y), Korea (14.8% y/y), the United Kingdom (down 20.9% y/y), and Turkey (down 31.9%).

 Table 1 shows the entry port into the U.S. for both July 2018 and January 2017 and the percentage change y/y.

Detroit, MI, was the largest receiving port for July 2018, receiving 12,465 tons, up 37.9% m/m. Chicago offloaded 8,726 tons in July, up 13.2% m/m. Houston-Galveston ranked third with 5,295 tons up significantly m/m. Buffalo, NY brought-in 3,362 tons, down 18.9% m/m. St. Albans, VT took-in 1,529 tons of SBQ this July, decreasing its intake by 2.7% m/m.

Of the twenty seven ports, the top five ports represented 80.4% of all imports. The other twenty two ports combined to receive 7,665 tons of SBQ imports in July 2018, 19.6% of the total volume in July 2018.

At Gerdau we closely follow trade in long products steel since it has a profound impact on domestic market share and material pricing. We want you, our valued customers to have access to current information that can help you better plan and operate your businesses.