SIMA Data Shows Steel Imports Decreased in September

by Jeff Yoders on OCTOBER 6, 2016

According to SIMA data, steel imports fell in September and gold is seeing a bounce back as bargain hunters take advantage of its low price.

Steel Imports Fall

Based on the Commerce Department’s most recent Steel Import Monitoring and Analysis (SIMA) data, the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) reported today that steel import permit applications for the month of September totaled 2,846,000 net tons.

This was a 7% decrease from the 3,066,000 permit tons recorded in August and a 5% decrease from the August preliminary imports total of 2,989,000 nt. Import permit tonnage for finished steel in September was 2,090,000 nt, down 9% from the preliminary imports total of 2,307,000 nt in August.

For the first nine months of 2016 (including September SIMA permits and August preliminary data), total and finished steel imports were 24,808,000 nt and 19,691,000 nt, down 20% and 22%, respectively, from the same period in 2015. The estimated finished steel import market share in September was 25% and is 25% year-to-date.

Bargain Hunters Buy Up Physical Gold

Physical gold demand in London jumped after this week’s big price drop, dealers said yesterday.

Bargain hunters came to the market because of the metal’s technically-driven slide. Online gold trading platform BullionVault.com saw its heaviest trading day on Tuesday since its all-time record on June 24, the day of the U.K. referendum result on European Union membership.

Source: MetalMiner