Based on preliminary Census Bureau data, the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) reported that the U.S. imported a total of 2,422,000 net tons (NT) of steel in January 2021, including 1,239,000 net tons (NT) of finished steel (down 23.1 percent and 24.8 percent, respectively, vs. January 2020). Total and finished steel imports are up 62.2 percent and down 7.5 percent, respectively, vs. the prior month, December 2020.
Finished steel import market share was an estimated 15 percent in January 2021. Key finished steel products with a significant import increase in January compared to December are reinforcing bars (up 121 percent), heavy structural shapes (up 115 percent), sheets and strip all other metallic coatings (up 20 percent), structural pipe and tubing (up 29 percent) and mechanical tubing (up 12 percent).
In January, the largest volumes of finished steel imports from offshore were from South Korea (131,000 NT, down 41 percent from December final), Turkey (82,000 NT, up 498 percent), Japan (46,000 NT, down 17 percent), Brazil (42,000 NT, up 8 percent) and United Arab Emirates (31,000 NT, up 152 percent).
Published in the April 2021 Edition
