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 February total 3,774,000 net tons (nt). This was a 15 percent decrease from the 4,418,000 permit tons recorded in January and an 11 percent decrease from the January preliminary imports total of 4,250,000 nt. Import permit tonnage for finished steel in February was 2,966,000, down 13 percent from the preliminary imports total of 3,429,000 in January. For the first two months of 2015 (including February SIMA and January preliminary), total and finished steel imports were 8,024,000 nt and 6,395,000 nt, respectively, up 24 percent and 36 percent from the same period in 2014. The estimated finished steel import market share in February was 33 percent and is 33 percent year-to-date (YTD).
Finished steel imports with large increases in February permits vs. the January preliminary included reinforcing bars (up 56 percent), heavy structural shapes (up 38 percent), tin plate (up 35 percent) and sheets and strip hot dipped galvanized (up 16 percent). Products with significant year-to-date (YTD) increases vs. the same period in 2014 include cut lengths plates (up 124 percent), line pipe (up 83 percent), heavy structural shapes (up 78 percent), cold rolled sheets (up 62 percent), standard pipe (up 58 percent), tin plate (up 53 percent), oil country goods (up 43 percent), sheet and strip all other metallic coatings (up 28 percent), hot rolled sheets (up 27 percent), plates in coils (up 23 percent), sheets and strip hot dipped galvanized (up 22 percent), hot rolled bars (up 12 percent) and wire rods (up 11 percent).
In February, the largest finished steel import permit applications for offshore countries were for South Korea (474,000 nt, down 43 percent from January preliminary), Turkey (335,000 nt up 22 percent), China (255,000 nt, up 29 percent), Japan (213,000, up 1 percent) and Taiwan (141,000 nt, up 25 percent). Through the first two months of 2015, the largest offshore suppliers were South Korea (1,310,000 nt, up 59 percent from the same period in 2014), Turkey (610,000 nt, up 104 percent) and China (453,000, up 23 percent).