Based on preliminary Census Bureau data, the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) reported that the U.S. imported a total of 3,892,000 net tons (NT) of steel in September, including 2,946,000 NT of finished steel (up 5.2 percent and 5.2 percent, respectively, vs. August final data).
Year-to-date (YTD) total and finished steel imports are 32,557,000 and 24,407,000 NT respectively, up 36 percent and 30 percent respectively, vs. 2013.
Key finished steel products with a significant import increase in September compared to August are wire rods (up 37 percent), cold rolled sheets (up 36 percent), hot rolled sheets (up 28 percent), cut lengths plates (up 25 percent), tin plate (up 16 percent) and sheets and strip galvanized hot dipped (up 13 percent). Major products with significant YTD import increases vs. the same period last year include cold rolled sheets (up 82 percent), wire rods (up 82 percent), plates in coils (up 79 percent), cut lengths plates (up 63 percent), sheets and strip hot dipped galvanized (up 59 percent), sheets and strip all other metallic coatings (up 51 percent), heavy structural shapes (up 46 percent), hot rolled sheets (up 37 percent), mechanical tubing (up 33 percent) oil country goods (up 26 percent) and tin plate (up 18 percent).
In September, the largest volumes of finished steel imports from offshore were all from Asia and Europe. They were from South Korea (385,000 NT, down 15 percent vs. August final), China (328,000 NT, up 44 percent), Russia (178,000 NT, up 72 percent), Turkey (174,000 NT, down 17 peercent).
Published in the December 2014 Edition of American Recycler News