Based on preliminary Census Bureau data, the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) reported that the U.S. imported a total of 1,750,000 net tons (NT) of steel in March 2020, including 1,511,000 NT of finished steel (up 15.9 percent and 12.1 percent, respectively, vs. February final data).
Through the first three months of 2020, total and finished steel imports are 6,410,000 and 4,507,000 NT, down 21.7 percent and 25.6 percent, respectively, vs. the same period in 2019. Annualized total and finished steel imports in 2020 would be 25.6 and 18.0 million NT, down 8.2 percent and 14.4 percent, respectively, vs. 2019.
Finished steel import market share was an estimated 17 percent in March and is estimated at 17 percent over the first three months of 2020.
Key finished steel products with a significant import increase in March compared to February are oil country goods (up 129 percent), line pipe (up 93 percent), structural pipe and tubing (up 52 percent), cold rolled sheets (up 30 percent), wire rods (up 22 percent), hot rolled bars (up 18 percent), wire drawn (up 14 percent) and standard pipe (up 13 percent). A product with a significant year-to-date (YTD) increase vs. the same period in 2019 was mechanical tubing (up 16 percent).
In March the largest volumes of finished steel imports from offshore were from South Korea (205,000 NT, up 29 percent from February final), Germany (69,000 NT, up 33 percent), Taiwan (61,000 NT, up 87 percent), Japan (56,000 NT, down 19 percent) and Spain (42,000 NT, up 544 percent). For the first three months of 2020, the largest offshore suppliers were South Korea (545,000 NT, down 24 percent vs. the same period in 2019), Japan (202,000 NT, down 39 percent), Germany (169,000 NT, down 45 percent), Turkey (156,000 NT, up 22 percent) and Brazil (141,000 NT, down 14 percent).