Based on preliminary Census Bureau data, the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) reported that the U.S. imported a total of 2,367,000 net tons (NT) of steel in August 2024, including 1,828,000 NT of finished steel (down 2.2 percent and 9.4 percent, respectively, vs. July 2024). Total and finished steel imports are up 2.4 percent and 2.6 percent, respectively, year-to-date vs. 2023. Over the 12-month period September 2023 to August 2024, total and finished steel imports are up 0.4 percent and down 2.2 percent, respectively, vs. the prior 12-month period. Finished steel import market share was an estimated 21 percent in August and is estimated at 23 percent over the first eight months of 2024.
Key steel products with a significant import increase in August compared to July are blooms, billets and slabs (up 34 percent), oil country goods (up 34 percent), sheets and strip all other metallic coated (up 32 percent) and line pipe (up 22 percent). Products with a significant increase in imports over the 12-month period September 2023 to August 2024 compared to the previous 12-month period include sheets and strip all other metallic coated (up 48 percent), sheets and strip hot dipped galvanized (up 28 percent), wire rods (up 22 percent), heavy structural shapes (up 12 percent) and cold rolled sheets (up 11 percent).
In August, the largest suppliers were Canada (500,000 NT, down 8 percent vs. July), Brazil (454,000 NT, up 10 percent), South Korea (268,000 NT, up 31 percent), Mexico (161,000 NT, down 5 percent) and Japan (77,000 NT, down 47 percent). Over the 12-month period September 2023 to August 2024, the largest suppliers were Canada (6,687,000 NT, down 3 percent compared to the previous twelve months), Brazil (4,654,000 NT, up 43 percent), Mexico (3,486,000 NT, down 21 percent), South Korea (2,898,000 NT, up 11 percent) and Japan (1,176,000 NT, down 4 percent).
