Based on the Commerce Department’s most recent Steel Import Monitoring and Analysis (SIMA) data, the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) reported today that steel import permit applications for the month of August totaled 3,028,000 net tons (nt).
This was an 8 percent decrease from the 3,294,000 permit tons recorded in July and a 7 percent decrease from the July final imports total of 3,266,000 nt. Import permit tonnage for finished steel in August was 2,282,000, down 8 percent from the final imports total of 2,471,000 in July.
For the first eight months of 2016 (including August SIMA permits and July final data), total and finished steel imports were 22,001,000 nt and 17,576,000 nt, down 22 percent and 23 percent, respectively, from the same period in 2015. The estimated finished steel import market share in August was 25 percent and is 25 percent year-to-date (YTD).
Finished steel imports with large increases in August permits vs. the July final included standard rails (up 63 percent), wire rod (up 28 percent), standard pipe (up 22 percent), structural pipe and tubing (up 17 percent), mechanical tubing (up 13 percent) and hot rolled bars (up 11 percent). Tin plate (up 13 percent) had a significant YTD increase compared to the same period in 2015.
In August, the largest finished steel import permit applications for offshore countries were for South Korea (293,000 nt, down 32 percent from July final), Japan (232,000 nt, up 17 percent), Turkey (179,000 nt, down 44 percent), Taiwan (130,000 nt, up 12 percent) and Germany (128,000 nt, up 46 percent).
Through the first eight months of 2016, the largest offshore suppliers were South Korea (2,665,000 nt, down 27 percent from the same period in 2015), Turkey (1,694,000 nt, down 17 percent) and Japan (1,297,000 nt, down 20 percent).