Based on preliminary Census Bureau data, the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) reported that the U.S. imported a total of 2,634,000 net tons (NT) of steel in April 2021, including 1,654,000 NT of finished steel (up 14.1 percent and down 7.6 percent, respectively, vs. March final data).
Through the first four months of 2021, total and finished steel imports are 9,263,000 and 6,117,000 net tons (NT), up 0.8 percent and 5.1 percent, respectively, vs. the same period in 2020. Annualized total and finished steel imports in 2021 would be 27.8 and 18.4 million NT, up 26.2 percent and 13.7 percent, respectively, vs. 2020. Finished steel import market share was an estimated 18 percent in April and is estimated at 18 percent over the first four months of 2021.
Key finished steel products with a significant increase in imports in April compared to March are heavy structural shapes (up 72 percent), plates in coils (up 35 percent), cut lengths plates (up 27 percent), hot rolled sheets (up 19 percent) and standard pipe (up 11 percent). Products with a significant year-to-date (YTD) increase vs. the same period in 2020 were cut lengths plates (up 37 percent), hot rolled sheets (up 32 percent), sheets and strip all other metallic coatings (up 28 percent), plates in coils (up 19 percent), wire drawn (up 12 percent) and reinforcing bars (up 12 percent).
In April, the largest volumes of finished steel imports from offshore were from South Korea (263,000 NT, up 10 percent from March final), Japan (88,000 NT, up 3 percent), Turkey (63,000 NT, up 49 percent), Germany (47,000 NT, down 42 percent) and Vietnam (46,000 NT, up 4 percent). For the first four months of 2021, the largest offshore suppliers were South Korea (864,000 NT, up 22 percent vs. the same period in 2020), Japan (306,000 NT, up 13 percent), Turkey (264,000 NT, up 27 percent), Germany (218,000 NT, down 7 percent) and Taiwan (189,000 NT, up 2 percent).
Published in the July 2021 Edition