Based on preliminary Census Bureau data, the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) reported that the U.S. imported a total of 2,966,000 net tons (NT) of steel in August 2018, including 2,010,000 NT of finished steel (down 0.8 percent and 8.1 percent, respectively, vs. July final data).
Year-to-date (YTD) through 8 months of 2018, total and finished steel imports are 23,839,000 and 18,208,000 net tons (NT), down 10.4 percent and 11.0 percent, respectively, vs. the same period in 2017. Annualized total and finished steel imports in 2018 would be 35.8 and 27.3 million NT, down 6.2 percent and 7.6 percent, respectively, vs. 2017. Finished steel import market share was an estimated 21 percent in August and is estimated at 24 percent YTD.
Key finished steel products with a significant import increase in August compared to July were wire rods (up 30 percent) and cut lengths plates (up 13 percent). Major products with significant year-to-date (YTD) increases vs. the same period in 2017 include plates in coils (up 21 percent) and hot rolled sheets (up 18 percent).
In August, the largest volumes of finished steel imports from offshore were from South Korea (169,000 NT, down 11 percent from July final), Turkey (119,000 NT, up 61 percent), Germany (112,000 NT, up 14 percent), Japan (101,000 NT, down 23 percent) and Taiwan (81,000 NT, down 18 percent). For the first eight months of 2018, the largest offshore suppliers were South Korea (2,101,000 NT, down 20 percent vs. the same period in 2017), Japan (974,000 NT, down 9 percent), Germany (870,000 NT, up 2 percent), Turkey (840,000 NT, down 54 percent) and Taiwan (740,000 NT, down 18 percent).
Published in the November 2018 Edition
