Based on the US 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 November total 3,938,000 net tons (nt). This was a 12 percent decrease from the 4,482,000 permit tons recorded in October and a 10 percent decrease from the October preliminary imports total of 4,398,000 nt. Import permit tonnage for finished steel in November was 3,028,000, down 11 percent from the preliminary imports total of 3,396,000 in October. For the first 11 months of 2014 (including November SIMA and October preliminary), total and finished steel imports were 40,902,000 nt and 30,839,000 nt, respectively, up 38 percent and 34 percent from the same period in 2013. The estimated finished steel import market share in November was 30 percent and is 28 percent year-to-date (YTD).
Finished steel imports with large increases in November permits vs. the October preliminary included reinforcing bars (up 23 percent), oil country goods (up 17 percent) and sheets and strip all other metallic coatings (up 15 percent). Products with significant year-to-date (YTD) increases vs. the same period in 2013 include plates in coils (up 87 percent), wire rods (up 84 percent), cold rolled sheets (up 83 percent), cut lengths plates (up 78 percent), sheets and strip hot dipped galvanized (up 61 percent), percent), heavy structural shapes (up 55 percent), hot rolled sheets (up 46 percent), sheets and strip all other metallic coatings (up 46 percent), tin plate (up 29 percent), mechanical tubing (up 28 percent), oil country goods (up 20 percent) and reinforcing bars (up 19 percent).
In November, the largest finished steel import permit applications for offshore countries were for South Korea (592,000 nt, up 8 percent from October preliminary), China (250,000 nt down 32 percent), Turkey (228,000 nt, down 30 percent), Japan (140,000, down 41 percent) and India (137,000 nt, up 107 percent). Through the first eleven months of 2014, the largest offshore suppliers were South Korea (5,155,000 nt, up 51 percent from the same period in 2013), China (2,960,000 nt, up 69 percent) and Turkey (2,036,000, up 76 percent).