The United States' steel mill product imports jumped month on month in October due in part to a resurgence in the arrival of slab from Brazil, which offset steep declines in inflows of line pipe, oil country goods, reinforcing bar and cold-rolled sheet products.
Shipments from abroad totaled nearly 1.98 million tonnes in October, up by 14.6% from 1.72 million tonnes in September but off by 33.6% from 2.97 million tonnes in October 2018, according to preliminary US Census Bureau data updated on Tuesday November 26. Imports of bloom, billet and slab products soared to 624,652 tonnes in October, up by 91.7% from 325,881 tonnes in September. More than half of that material (350,177 tonnes) arrived from Brazil following two...