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 August totaled 2,421,000 net tons (NT).
This was a 7.2 percent decrease from the 2,610,000 permit tons recorded in July and a 9.5 percent decrease from the July final imports total of 2,675,000.
Import permit tonnage for finished steel in August was 2,063,000, down 9.3 percent from the final imports total of 2,274,000 in July. For the first eight months of 2022 (including August SIMA permits and July final imports), total and finished steel imports were 21,889,000 NT and 17,789,000 NT, up 8.4 percent and 28.5 percent, respectively, from the same period in 2021. The estimated finished steel import market share in August was 23 percent and is 24 percent year-to-date (YTD).
Steel imports with large increases in August permits vs. July final imports include sheets and strip hot dipped galvanized (33 percent), heavy structural shapes (32 percent), sheets and strip all other metallic coatings (up 17 percent) and cold rolled sheets (up 14 percent). Products with significant year-to date (YTD) increases vs. the same period in 2021 include wire rods (up 77 percent), oil country goods (up 65 percent), standard pipe (up 55 percent), line pipe (up 51 percent) and cold rolled sheets (up 46 percent).
In August, the largest steel import permit applications were for Canada (587,000 NT, up 8 percent from July final), Mexico (479,000 NT, up 4 percent), South Korea (202,000 NT, down 28 percent), Brazil (107,000 NT, down 58 percent) and Vietnam (107,000 NT, up 110 percent).
Through the first eight months of 2022, the largest suppliers were Canada (4,709,000 NT, up 1 percent), Mexico (3,894,000 NT, up 35 percent) and South Korea (1,962,000 NT, up 10 percent).
Published in the October 2022 Edition