Based on preliminary Census Bureau data, the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) reported that the U.S. imported a total of 2,690,000 net tons (NT) of steel in July 2020, including 1,367,000 net tons (NT) of finished steel (up 92.0 percent and 3.6 percent, respectively, vs. June final data). Through the first 7 months of 2020, total and finished steel imports are 15,088,000 and 10,010,000 net tons (NT), down 19.2 percent and 26.1 percent, respectively, vs. the same period in 2019.
Finished steel import market share was an estimated 20 percent in July and is estimated at 19 percent over the first seven months of 2020.
Key finished steel products with a significant increase in imports in July compared to June are reinforcing bars (up 61 percent), tin free steel (up 61 percent), heavy structural shapes (up 51 percent), tin plate (up 43 percent) and hot dipped galvanized sheets and strip (up 35 percent). A product with a significant year-to date (YTD) increase vs. the same period in 2019 was tin free steel (up 29 percent).
In July the largest volumes of finished steel imports from offshore were from South Korea (158,000 NT, down 15 percent from June final), Brazil (88,000 NT, up 286 percent), China (60,000 NT, up 53 percent), Turkey (52,000 NT, up 76 percent) and Japan (50,000 NT, down 17 percent). For the first 7 months of 2020, the largest offshore suppliers were South Korea (1,282,000 NT, down 21 percent vs. the same period in 2019), Japan (484,000 NT, down 40 percent), Germany (422,000 NT, down 39 percent), Turkey (375,000 NT, up 80 percent) and Brazil (373,000 NT, down 6 percent).