Based on preliminary Census Bureau data, the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) reported that the U.S. imported a total of 2,850,000 net tons (NT) of steel in May 2024, including 2,231,000 net tons (NT) of finished steel (up 1.7 percent and 6.6 percent, respectively, vs. April 2024). Total and finished steel imports are up 8.0 percent and 5.5 percent, respectively, year-to-date vs. 2023. Over the 12-month period June 2023 to May 2024, total and finished steel imports are unchanged and down 5.4 percent, respectively, vs. the prior 12-month period. Finished steel import market share was an estimated 25 percent in May and is estimated at 23 percent over the first five months of 2024.
Key steel products with a significant import increase in May compared to April are line pipe (up 73 percent), oil country goods (up 53 percent), sheets and strip all other metallic coated (up 17 percent), sheets and strip hot dipped galvanized (up 17 percent), and standard pipe (up 15 percent). Products with a significant increase in imports over the 12-month period June 2023 to May 2024 compared to the previous 12-month period include sheets and strip all other metallic coated (up 24 percent), ingots, billets and slabs (up 23 percent), cut lengths plates (up 23 percent) and sheets and strip hot dipped galvanized (up 11 percent).
In May, the largest suppliers were Canada (574,000 NT, down 2 percent vs. April), Brazil (453,000 NT, up 18 percent), South Korea (369,000 NT, up 77 percent), Mexico (310,000 NT, down 27 percent) and Vietnam (148,000 NT, up 2 percent). Over the 12-month period June 2023 to May 2024, the largest suppliers were Canada (6,795,000 NT, down 2 percent compared to the previous twelve months), Brazil (4,489,000 NT, up 56 percent), Mexico (4,018,000 NT, down 16 percent), South Korea (3,006,000 NT, up 17 percent) and Japan (1,168,000 NT, down 10 percent).
