US imports of hot-rolled bar decreased slightly from March to April, Kallanish learns from the US Department of Commerce.

According to preliminary data gathered by the US Department of Commerce, import licenses for hot-rolled bars totalled 57,356 tonnes in April. This is a slight decline from March's final imports of 58,095t.

The top exporter of hot-rolled bars to the US in April was Canada (16,338t), followed by Japan (12,301t), and Portugal (13,026t). In March, the top exporters to the US were Canada (26,200t), Japan (12,591t), and Mexico (5,545t).

As of 19 May, US global import licenses for hot-rolled bar during the month totalled 45,302t. While preliminary data suggests import licenses from Canada fell from 16,338t to 8,765 from April to May, Japanese import licenses appear to have increased significantly, from 12,301t to 19,244t from April to May.