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 December 2019 totaled 2,308,000 net tons (NT). This was a 12.3 percent increase from the 2,055,000 permit tons recorded in November and a 47.8 percent increase from the November final imports total of 1,561,000. Import permit tonnage for finished steel in December was 1,388,000, up 4.2 percent from the final imports total of 1,331,000 in November.
For full year 2019 (including December SIMA permits and November final imports), total and finished steel imports were 28,660,000 NT and 21,082,000 NT, down 15.0 percent and 17.9 percent, respectively, from 2018. The estimated finished steel import market share in December was 15 percent and is 19 percent for 2019.
Finished steel imports with large increases in December permits vs. November final imports included hot rolled sheets (up 38 percent), tin free steel (up 37 percent) amd plates in coils (up 29 percent). Products with significant increases in 2019 vs. 2018 include black plate (up 110 percent) and steel piling (up 37 percent).
In December, the largest finished steel import permit applications were for South Korea (199,000 NT, up 6 percent from November final), Japan (81,000 NT, down 4 percent) and Germany (81,000 NT, up 48 percent). For full year 2019, the largest offshore suppliers were South Korea (2,606,000 NT, down 6 percent from 2018) and Japan (1,256,000 NT, down 9 percent).
Published in the February 2020 Edition