Based on the Commerce Department’s most recent Steel Import Monitoring and Analysis (SIMA) data, the American Iron and Steel Institute reported that steel import permit applications for the month of February totaled 1,945,000 net tons (NT). This was a 12.3 percent decrease from the 2,218,000 permit tons recorded in January and a 19.7 percent decrease from the January preliminary imports total of 2,422,000.
Import permit tonnage for finished steel in February was 1,387,000, up 11.9 percent from the preliminary imports total of 1,239,000 in January. The first two months of 2021 were 4,367,000 NT and 2,626,000 NT, down 6.3 percent and 12.4 percent, respectively, from the same period in 2020. The estimated finished steel import market share in February was 18 percent and is 16 percent year-to-date (YTD).
Finished steel imports with large increases in February permits vs. the January preliminary imports include tin plate (up 213 percent), sheets and strip electrolytic galvanized (up 151 percent), cold rolled sheets (up 71 percent), tin free steel (up 55 percent), hot rolled sheets (up 43 percent), cut lengths plates (up 34 percent), line pipe (up 30 percent), mechanical tubing (up 19 percent) and wire rods (up 15 percent). Products with significant year-to date (YTD) increases vs. the same period in 2020 include tin plate (up 22 percent), steel piling (up 81 percent) and sheets and strip electrolytic galvanized (up 69 percent).
In February, the largest finished steel import permit applications for offshore countries were for South Korea (216,000 NT, up 64 percent from January preliminary), Japan (91,000 NT, up 97 percent), Germany (82,000 NT, up 251 percent), Turkey (77,000 NT, down 6 percent) and The Netherlands (38,000 NT, up 841 percent). Through the first two months of 2021, the largest offshore suppliers were South Korea (347,000 NT, up 2 percent from the same period last year), Japan (137,000 NT, down 6 percent) and Turkey (158,000 NT, up 28 percent).
Published in the April 2021 Edition
