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 April totaled 2,579,000 net tons (NT).
This was an 19.8 percent decrease from the 3,214,000 permit tons recorded in March and a 16.6 percent decrease from the March final imports total of 3,092,000. Import permit tonnage for finished steel in April was 2,093,000, down 16.3 percent from the final imports total of 2,499,000 in March. For the first four months of 2022 (including April SIMA permits and March final imports), total and finished steel imports were 11,062,000 NT and 8,711,000 NT, up 19.4 percent and 42.3 percent, respectively, from the same period in 2021. The estimated finished steel import market share in April was 25 percent and is 24 percent year-to-date (YTD).
Steel imports with large increases in April permits vs. the March final imports include tin plate (up 31 percent) and standard rail (up 200 percent). Products with significant YTD increases vs. the same period in 2021 include wire rods (up 137 percent), cold rolled sheets (up 88 percent), tin plate (up 80 percent), oil country goods (up 80 percent) and sheets and strip galvanized hot dipped (up 45 percent).
In April, the largest steel import permit applications were for Canada (583,000 NT, down 11 percent from March final), Mexico (392,000 NT, down 28 percent), Brazil (258,000 NT, down 26 percent), South Korea (198,000 NT, down 38 percent) and Taiwan (104,000 NT, no change). Through the first four months of 2022, the largest suppliers were Canada (2,283,000 NT, down 1 percent from the same period last year) and Mexico (1,950,000 NT, up 42 percent).
Published in the June 2022 Edition