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 3,078,000 net tons (NT). This was a 32.0 percent increase from the 2,333,000 permit tons recorded in February and a 31.1 percent increase from the February final imports total of 2,348,000.
Import permit tonnage for finished steel in March was 2,578,000, up 40.2 percent from the final imports total of 1,840,000 in February. For the first three months of 2022 (including March SIMA permits and February final imports), total and finished steel imports were 8,471,000 NT and 6,697,000 NT, up 27.8 percent and 50.1 percent, respectively, from the same period in 2021. The estimated finished steel import market share in March was 27 percent and is 25 percent year-to-date (YTD).
Steel imports with large increases in March permits vs. the February final imports include standard pipe (up 89 percent), wire rods (up 79 percent), structural pipe and tubing (up 67 percent), hot rolled sheets (up 62 percent) and oil country goods (up 56 percent). Products with significant year-to date (YTD) increases vs. the same period in 2021 include wire rods (up 145 percent), oil country goods (up 108 percent), cold rolled sheets (up 89 percent), standard pipe (up 67 percent) and sheets and strip galvanized hot dipped (up 57 percent).
In March, the largest steel import permit applications were for Canada (591,000 NT, up 26 percent from February final), Mexico (514,000 NT, up 15 percent), South Korea (337,000 NT, up 55 percent), Brazil (306,000 NT, up 16 percent) and Vietnam (170,000 NT, up 137 percent). Through the first three months of 2022, the largest suppliers were Canada (1,638,000 NT, down 5 percent from the same period last year), Mexico (1,531,000 NT, up 59 percent) and Brazil (945,000 NT, down 24 percent).