Based on preliminary Census Bureau data, the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) reported that the U.S. imported a total of 1,541,000 net tons (NT) of steel in November 2019, including 1,311,000 NT of finished steel (down 29.9 percent and 12.5 percent, respectively, vs. October final data). Through the first 11 months of 2019, total and finished steel imports are 26,332,000 and 19,675,000 net tons, down 17.3 percent and 18.1 percent, vs. the same period in 2018.
Key finished steel products with a significant import increase in November compared to October are cut lengths plates (up 46 percent), hot rolled bars (up 24 percent), standard pipe (up 13 percent) and line pipe (up 12 percent).
In November the largest volumes of finished steel imports from offshore were from South Korea (188,000 NT, up 11 percent from October final), Japan (85,000 NT, up 14 percent), The Netherlands (70,000 NT, up 131 percent), Germany (55,000 NT, down 30 percent) and Taiwan (31,000 NT, down 21 percent). For the first eleven months of 2019, the largest offshore suppliers were South Korea (2,408,000 NT, down 10 percent vs. the same period in 2018), Japan (1,175,000 NT, down 9 percent), Germany (965,000 NT, down 21 percent), Taiwan (799,000 NT, down 21 percent) and Vietnam (650,000 NT, down 36 percent).
Published in the February 2020 Edition
