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 July totaled 2,461,000 net tons (NT).
This was a 12.9 percent decrease from the 2,826,000 permit tons recorded in June and a 12.4 percent decrease from the June preliminary imports total. Import permit tonnage for finished steel in July was 2,082,000, down 5.5 percent from the preliminary imports total of 2,204,000 in June. For the first 7 months of 2022 (including July SIMA permits and June preliminary imports), total and finished steel imports were 19,230,000 NT and 15,510,000 NT, up 9.1 percent and 30.0 percent, respectively, from 2021.
Steel imports with large increases in July permits vs. June preliminary imports include wire rods (up 48 percent), black plate (up 42 percent), reinforcing bars (up 31 percent) and cut lengths plates (up 22 percent). Products with significant year-to date (YTD) increases vs. the same period in 2021 include wire rods (up 81 percent), oil country goods (up 62 percent), standard pipe (up 55 percent) and cold rolled sheets (up 48 percent).
In July, the largest steel import permit applications were for Canada (515,000 NT, down 19 percent from June preliminary), Mexico (440,000 NT, down 16 percent), South Korea (257,000 NT, down 14 percent), Brazil (247,000 NT, up 24 percent) and Japan (161,000 NT, up 64 percent). Through the first seven months of 2022, the largest suppliers were Canada (4,093,000 NT, no change from the same period last year) and Mexico (3,395,000 NT, up 37 percent).
Published in the September 2022 Edition