Based on the Commerce Department’s most recent Steel Import Monitoring and Analysis (SIMA) data, the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) reported that steel import permit applications for the month of March totaled 2,323,000 net tons (NT).
This was a 24.0 percent increase from the 1,873,000 permit tons recorded in February and a 53.9 percent increase from the February final imports total of 1,510,000. Import permit tonnage for finished steel in March was 1,544,000, up 14.6 percent from the final imports total of 1,348,000 in February. For the first three months of 2020 (including March SIMA permits and February final imports), total and finished steel imports were 6,983,000 NT and 4,540,000 NT, down 14.7 percent and 25.0 percent, respectively, from the same period in 2019. The estimated finished steel import market share in March was 17 percent and is 17 percent year-to-date (YTD).
Finished steel imports with large increases in March permits vs. the February final imports included oil country goods (up 101 percent), line pipe (up 66 percent), structural pipe and tubing (up 57 percent), tin free steel (up 47 percent), cold rolled sheets (up 34 percent), hot rolled bars (up 34 percent), cut lengths plates (up 28 percent), wire rods (up 21 percent), sheets and strip hot dipped galvanized (up 14 percent), standard pipe (up 14 percent) and wire drawn (up 14 percent). Products with significant year-to date (YTD) increases vs. the same period in 2019 include tin free steel (up 35 percent) and mechanical tubing (up 17 percent).
In March, the largest finished steel import permit applications for offshore countries were for South Korea (231,000 NT, up 46 percent from February final), Taiwan (65,000 NT, up 99 percent), Germany (61,000 NT, up 17 percent), Turkey (60,000 NT, down 18 percent) and Japan (57,000 NT, down 18 percent). Through the first three months of 2020, the largest offshore suppliers were South Korea (572,000 NT, down 21 percent from the same period last year) and Japan (203,000 NT, down 39 percent).
Published in the May 2020 Edition
