Apparent Steel Use Rises for Finished, Semis Products

The Iranian Steel Producers Association has released new data about apparent steel use.
ASU is defined as production plus imports minus exports, sometimes also adjusted for changes in inventories. It stood at 3.59 million tons for finished products during the first two months of the current Iranian year (March 21-May 21), registering a 0.5% year-on-year rise.
Long steel products accounted for the biggest share of finished steel consumption with 1.79 million tons, up 3.1%.
Rebar grabbed the biggest share in this category with 1.4 million tons, up 1%; followed by beams with 236,000 tons, up 17%; and L-beam, T-beam and other types of beams with 149,000 tons, up 3.5%.
Flat steel products accounted for 1.75 million tons of finished steel apparent use, down 0.8%. 
Among flat steel products, hot-rolled coil had the biggest share with 1.66 million tons (down 4.2%), followed by cold-rolled coil with 507,000 tons (up 19%) and coated coil with 312,000 tons (up 208.9%).
ASU stood at 4.9 million tons for semi-finished products, registering a 18% rise.
The apparent use for billet and bloom stood at 2.95 million tons, up 14.6%. For slab, it declined by 13% to 1.95 million tons.
Direct reduced iron consumption reached 6.51 million tons, down 0.3%.