Steel imports increase in November

Based on preliminary Census Bureau data, the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) reported that the U.S. imported a total of 2,584,000 net tons (NT) of steel in November, including 1,906,000 NT of finished steel (down 16.7 percent and 16.2 percent, respectively, versus October final data).

Year-to-date (YTD) total and finished steel imports are 29,636,000 and 22,933,000 NT, respectively, down 4 percent and 5 percent respectively, versus 2012.

A key finished steel product with a significant import increase in November 2013 compared to October is reinforcing bars (up 26 percent). Major products with significant YTD import increases versus the same period last year include reinforcing bars (up 23 percent), hot rolled bars (up 14 percent) and sheets and strip all other metallic coatings (up 12 percent).

In November, the largest volumes of finished steel imports from offshore were all from Asia and Europe. They were from South Korea (244,000 NT, down 38 percent versus October final), China (163,000 NT, down 24 percent), Japan (139,000 NT, up 11 percent), Germany (103,000 NT, down 5 percent) and Turkey (75,000 NT, up 3 percent). For eleven months of 2013, the largest offshore suppliers were South Korea (3,413,000 NT, down 2 percent), China (1,755,000 NT, up 18 percent), Japan (1,746,000 NT, down 5 percent), and Turkey (1,159,000 NT, down 11 percent).

Published in the February 2014 Edition of American Recycler News