Based on preliminary Census Bureau data, the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) reported that the U.S. imported a total of 2,363,000 net tons (NT) of steel in February 2018, including 1,923,000 NT of finished steel (down 18.0 percent and 17.6 percent, respectively, vs. January final data).
Year-to-date (YTD) through 2 months of 2018, total and finished steel imports are 5,245,000 and 4,257,000 NT, down 5.3 percent and 3.5 percent, respectively, vs. the same period in 2017. Finished steel import market share was an estimated 24 percent in February and is estimated at 25 percent YTD.
Key finished steel products with significant import increases in February compared to January include heavy structural shapes (up 60 percent) and wire rods (up 37 percent). Major products with significant year-to-date (YTD) increases vs. the same period in 2017 include oil country goods (up 57 percent), hot rolled sheets (up 33 percent), line pipe (up 30 percent), hot rolled bars (up 27 percent), mechanical tubing (up 17 percent) and plates in coils (up 16 percent).
In February, the largest volumes of finished steel imports from offshore were from South Korea (277,000 NT, down 18 percent from January final), Germany (116,000 NT, up 28 percent), Japan (90,000 NT, down 37 percent), Taiwan (75,000 NT, down 36 percent) and China (60,000 NT, down 16 percent). For the first two months of 2018, the largest offshore suppliers were South Korea (616,000 NT, up 8 percent vs. the same period in 2017), Japan (232,000 NT, down 5 percent), Germany (206,000 NT, up 54 percent), Turkey (195,000 NT, down 61 percent) and Taiwan (192,000 NT, down 10 percent).
Published in the May 2018 Edition
