Based on preliminary Census Bureau data, the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) reported that the U.S. imported a total of 1,391,000 net tons (NT) of steel in June 2020, including 1,310,000 net tons (NT) of finished steel (down 23.0 percent and down 12.7 percent, respectively, vs. May final data).
Through the first six months of 2020, total and finished steel imports are 12,387,000 and 8,632,000 NT, down 20.8 percent and 26.2 percent, respectively, vs. the same period in 2019.
Key finished steel products with a significant increase in imports in June compared to May are line pipe (up 30 percent) and sheets and strip hot dipped galvanized (up 23 percent).
In June the largest volumes of finished steel imports from offshore were from South Korea (187,000 NT, down 19 percent from May final), Germany (79,000 NT, up 22 percent), Taiwan (65,000 NT, down 22 percent), Japan (61,000 NT, down 41 percent) and China (39,000 NT, up 13 percent). For the first six months of 2020, the largest offshore suppliers were South Korea (1,124,000 NT, down 23 percent vs. the same period in 2019), Japan (434,000 NT, down 40 percent), Germany (377,000 NT, down 39 percent), Taiwan (333,000 NT, down 36 percent) and Turkey (323,000 NT, up 66 percent).
Published in the September 2020 Edition