Based on preliminary Census Bureau data, the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) reported that the U.S. imported a total of 1,505,000 net tons (NT) of steel in February 2020, including 1,344,000 NT of finished steel (down 52.2 percent and 18.4 percent, respectively, vs. January final data).
Through the first two months of 2020, total and finished steel imports are 4,655,000 and 2,992,000 NT, down 21.3 percent and 28.7 percent, respectively, vs. the same period in 2019.
Key finished steel products with a significant import increase in February compared to January are heavy structural shapes (up 57 percent) and tin plate (up 15 percent). A product with a significant year-to-date (YTD) increase vs. the same period in 2019 was mechanical tubing (up 12 percent).
In February the largest volumes of finished steel imports from offshore were from South Korea (158,000 NT, down 13 percent from January final), Turkey (73,000 NT, up 44 percent), Japan (69,000 NT, down 9 percent), Germany (52,000 NT, up 7 percent) and Brazil (37,000 NT, down 58 percent). For the first two months of 2020, the largest offshore suppliers were South Korea (340,000 NT, down 38 percent vs. the same period in 2019), Japan (146,000 NT, down 37 percent), Brazil (126,000 NT, down 16 percent), Turkey (124,000 NT, up 23 percent) and Germany (100,000 NT, down 54 percent).
The chart above is on estimated steel import market share in recent months and on finished steel imports from offshore by country.
Published in the May 2020 Edition
