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 May totaled 2,395,000 net tons (NT). This was a 3.6 percent increase from the 2,311,000 permit tons recorded in April and a 0.6 percent increase from the April final imports total of 2,380,000. Import permit tonnage for finished steel in May was 1,875,000, down 3.0 percent from the final imports total of 1,933,000 in April. For the first five months of 2023 (including May SIMA permits and April final imports), total and finished steel imports were 12,288,000 NT and 9,465,000 NT, down 12.0 percent and 15.7 percent, respectively, from the same period in 2022. The estimated finished steel import market share in May was 21 percent and is 22 percent year-to-date (YTD).
Steel imports with large increases in May permits vs. April final imports include cut lengths plates (up 70 percent), cold rolled sheets (up 54 percent), sheet and strip hot dipped galvanized (up 36 percent), structural pipe and tubing (up 28 percent) and hot rolled bars (up 28 percent). Products with significant year-to-date (YTD) increases vs. the same period in 2022 include standard rails (up 73 percent), oil country goods (up 46 percent), electrical sheet and strip (up 43 percent), line pipe (up 19 percent) and cut length plates (up 16 percent).
In May, the largest steel import permit applications were for Canada (627,000 NT, up 6 percent from April final), Brazil (311,000 NT, up 46 percent), Mexico (281,000 NT, down 20 percent), South Korea (171,000 NT, up 2 percent) and Japan (112,000 NT, down 13 percent). Through the first five months of 2023, the largest suppliers were Canada (3,012,000 NT, up 2 percent), Mexico (1,906,000 NT, down 22 percent) and Brazil (1,730,000 NT, up 28 percent).