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 July totaled 3,198,000 net tons (nt). This was a 7 percent increase from the 2,978,000 permit tons recorded in June and a 22 percent increase from the June preliminary imports total of 2,630,000 nt. Import permit tonnage for finished steel in July was 2,439,000 nt, up 10 percent from the preliminary imports total of 2,218,000 nt in June.
For the first seven months of 2016 (including July SIMA permits and June preliminary data), total and finished steel imports were 18,713,000 nt and 15,211,000 nt, down 25 percent and 26 percent, respectively, from the same period in 2015.
The estimated finished steel import market share in July was 27 percent and is 25 percent year-to-date (YTD).
Finished steel imports with large increases in July permits vs. the June preliminary included standard rails (up 54 percent), reinforcing bars (up 45 percent), plates in coils (up 41 percent), oil country goods (up 41 percent), tin free steel (up 40 percent), hot rolled sheets (up 36 percent), cut lengths plates (up 21 percent), cold rolled sheets (up 19 percent) and hot rolled bars (up 12 percent).
In July, the largest finished steel import permit applications for offshore countries were for South Korea (424,000 nt, up 27 percent from June preliminary), Turkey (296,000 nt up 51 percent), Japan (194,000 nt, up 33 percent), Taiwan (140,000 nt, up 50 percent) and the Netherlands (88,000 nt, up 48 percent).
Through the first seven months of 2016, the largest offshore suppliers were South Korea (2,347,000 nt, down 30 percent from the same period in 2015), Turkey (1,491,000 nt, down 20 percent) and Japan (1,049,000 nt, down 26 percent).