Based on preliminary Census Bureau data, the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) reported that the U.S. imported a total of 1,255,000 net tons (NT) of steel in September 2020, including 1,166,000 net tons (NT) of finished steel (down 2.8 percent and 1.1 percent, respectively, vs. August final data).
Through the first 9 months of 2020, total and finished steel imports are 17,646,000 and 12,367,000 NT, down 21.9 percent and 26.7 percent, respectively, vs. the same period in 2019. Annualized total and finished steel imports in 2020 would be 23.5 and 16.5 million NT, down 15.8 percent and 21.7 percent, respectively, vs. 2019. Finished steel import market share was an estimated 16 percent in September and is estimated at 18 percent over the first 9 months of 2020.
Key finished steel products with a significant increase in imports in September compared to August are heavy structural shapes (up 114 percent), hot rolled sheets (up 41 percent), plates in coils (up 28 percent), sheets and strip all other metallic coatings (up 19 percent), tin plate (up 11 percent) and sheets and strip hot dipped galvanized (up 10 percent).
In September the largest volumes of finished steel imports from offshore were from South Korea (124,000 NT, up 11 percent from August final), Taiwan (58,000 NT, up 73 percent), Japan (57,000 NT, up 28 percent), Germany (52,000 NT, up 3 percent) and The Netherlands (33,000 NT, down 10 percent). For the first 9 months of 2020, the largest offshore suppliers were South Korea (1,519,000 NT, down 26 percent vs. the same period in 2019), Japan (586,000 NT, down 42 percent), Germany (525,000 NT, down 37 percent), Taiwan (463,000 NT, down 37 percent) and Turkey (427,000 NT, up 65 percent).
Published in the December 2020 Edition
