Based on final Census Bureau data, the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) reported that the U.S. imported a total of 2,385,000 net tons (NT) of steel in November 2018, including 1,921,000 NT of finished steel (down 27.2 percent and 4.1 percent, respectively, vs. October final data).
Through the first 11 months of 2018, total and finished steel imports are 31,834,000 and 24,016,000 net tons (NT), down 10.8 percent and 13.2 percent, respectively, vs. the same period in 2017. Finished steel import market share was an estimated 21 percent in November and is estimated at 23 percent over the first 11 months of 2018.
Key finished steel products with a significant import increase in November compared to October were heavy structural shapes (up 67 percent), wire rods (up 57 percent), sheets and strip all other metallic coatings (up 24 percent), and mechanical tubing (up 12 percent). Major products with significant year-to-date (YTD) increases vs. the same period in 2017 include hot rolled sheets (up 22 percent) and plates in coils (up 16 percent).
In November the largest volumes of finished steel imports from offshore were from South Korea (195,000 NT, up 6 percent from October final), Germany (125,000 NT, up 10 percent), Vietnam (121,000 NT, up 5 percent), Japan (115,000 NT, up 8 percent) and Taiwan (100,000 NT, up 40 percent). For the first 11 months of 2018, the largest offshore suppliers were South Korea (2,674,000 NT, down 25 percent vs. the same period in 2017), Japan (1,286,000 NT, down 10 percent), Germany (1,225,000 NT, down 6 percent), Turkey (1,100,000 NT, down 48 percent) and Taiwan (1,016,000 NT, down 16 percent).
Published in the March 2019 Edition
