Based on preliminary Census Bureau data, the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) reported that the U.S. imported a total of 1,370,000 net tons (NT) of steel in November 2020, including 1,181,000 NT of finished steel (down 9.2 percent and 5.5 percent, respectively, vs. October final data).
Through the first 11 months of 2020, total and finished steel imports are 20,526,000 and 14,799,000 net tons (NT), down 22.1 percent and 24.9 percent, respectively, vs. the same period in 2019.
Key finished steel products with a significant increase in imports in November compared to October are tin plate (up 43 percent), standard pipe (up 27 percent), wire rods (up 21 percent) and sheets and strip all other metallic coatings (up 19 percent).
In November the largest volumes of finished steel imports from offshore were from South Korea (127,000 NT, down 14 percent from October final), Germany (67,000 NT, down 1 percent), Turkey (53,000 NT, down 23 percent), The Netherlands (51,000 NT, up 82 percent) and Japan (46,000 NT, down 41 percent). For the first eleven months of 2020, the largest offshore suppliers were South Korea (1,793,000 NT, down 26 percent vs. the same period in 2019), Japan (711,000 NT, down 40 percent), Germany (659,000 NT, down 32 percent), Turkey (548,000 NT, up 71 percent) and Taiwan (530,000 NT, down 34 percent).
Published in the February 2021 Edition
