US industrial production (IP) fell to a trough in Q2 2009, and then started rising q-o-q. Still, overall US IP fell 9.8% in 2009, decreasing real merchant bar demand. At the same time service centres destocked, with inventories down 32.5% y-o-y in December. Thus, with both falling real demand and destocking, apparent consumption collapsed 38.3% in 2009. However, demand actually rose in q-o-q terms from Q3 onwards, as end-users replenished their finished goods inventories, for example in the automotive industry. Meanwhile, imports have dropped. Indeed, the US became a small net exporter in Q2 and Q3 of last year, and total net imports fell 60.9% to just 25,000 tonnes in 2009. However, US merchant bar prices were pushed up US$2.95/cwt to US$35.5/cwt in January 2010, and rose US$1.65/cwt to US$37.15/cwt in February, due to higher scrap prices, which are forecast to rise 24.5% q-o-q in Q1 2010.