Based on preliminary Census Bureau data, the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) reported that the U.S. imported a total of 2,212,000 net tons (NT) of steel in February 2016, including 2,079,000 NT of finished steel (down 16.5 percent and 6.7 percent, respectively, vs. January final data).
Year-to-date (YTD) through two months of 2016 total and finished steel imports are 4,860,000 and 4,307,000 net tons (NT), respectively, down 40 percent and 34 percent respectively, vs. the same period in 2015. Finished steel import market share was an estimated 26 percent in February and is estimated at 26 percent YTD.
Key finished steel products with a significant import increase in February compared to January are reinforcing bars (up 32 percent), tin plate (up 53 percent), structural pipe and tubing (up 12 percent) and sheets and strip all other metallic coatings (up 11 percent).
In February, the largest volumes of finished steel imports from offshore were from South Korea (374,000 NT, up 55 percent from January final), Turkey (207,000 NT, down 16 percent), Japan (114,000 NT, down 40 percent), Germany (80,000 NT, down 33 percent) and China (80,000 NT, down 12 percent). For two months of 2016, the largest offshore suppliers were South Korea (615,000 NT, down 53 percent), Turkey (450,000 NT, down 23 percent), Japan (299,000 NT, down 34 percent), Germany (200,000 NT, down 32 percent) and China (172,000 NT, down 63 percent).
Published in the May 2016 Edition of American Recycler News