Based on preliminary Census Bureau data, the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) reported Friday that the US 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 5.3 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. Annualized total and finished steel imports in 2014 would be 43.4 and 32.5 million nt, up 35 percent and 31 percent respectively vs. 2013. Finished steel import market share was an estimated 29 percent in September and is estimated at 27 percent YTD.
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 (46 percent), hot rolled sheets (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 percent) and Japan (173,000 nt, up 5 percent). For nine months of 2014, the largest offshore suppliers were South Korea (4,013,000 nt, up 45 percent), China (2,342,000 nt, up 70 percent), Japan (1,529,000 nt, up 3 percent), Turkey (1,480,000 nt, up 47 percent) and Russia (1,081,000 nt, up 504 percent).