Based on the US Commerce Department’s most recent Steel Import Monitoring and Analysis (SIMA) data, the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) reported Wednesday that steel import permit applications for the month of June totaled 3,436,000 net tons (nt). This was a 16 percent decrease from the 4,106,000 permit tons recorded in May and a 14 percent decrease from the May preliminary imports total of 4,016,000 nt. Import permit tonnage for finished steel in June was 2,764,000 nt, down 6 percent from the preliminary imports total of 2,925,000 nt in May. For the first six months of 2014 (including June SIMA and May preliminary), total and finished steel imports were 20,915,000 nt and 15,593,000 nt, respectively, up 33 percent and 26 percent from the same period in 2013. The estimated finished steel import market share in June was 28 percent and is 27 percent year-to-date (YTD).
Finished steel imports with large increases in June permits vs. the May preliminary included cut lengths plates (up 26 percent), cold rolled sheets (up 20 percent), tin plate (up 12 percent) and hot rolled sheets (up 11 percent). Products with significant year-to-date (YTD) increases vs. the same period in 2013 include wire rods (up 103 percent), plates in coils (up 67 percent), cold rolled sheets (up 66 percent), sheets and strip hot dipped galvanized (up 50 percent), sheets and strip all other metallic coatings (up 49 percent), hot rolled sheets (up 43 percent), cut lengths plates (up 37 percent), mechanical tubing (up 35 percent), oil country goods (up 30 percent), heavy structural shapes (up 25 percent), structural pipe and tubing (up 21 percent) and reinforcing bar (up 16 percent).
In June, the largest finished steel import permit applications for offshore countries were for South Korea (498,000 nt, down 15 percent from May preliminary), Turkey (246,000 nt, up 66 percent), China (234,000 nt, down 23 percent), Japan (151,000 nt, up 4 percent), and Russia (103,000 nt, down 0.3 percent). Through the first six months of 2014, the largest offshore suppliers were South Korea (2,650,000 nt, up 51 percent from the same period in 2013), China (1,520,000 nt, up 69 percent), and Turkey (1,007,000 nt, up 36 percent).