Based on preliminary Census Bureau data, the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) reported Thursday that the US imported a total of 3,374,000 net tons (nt) of steel in May 2015, including 2,744,000 net tons (nt) of finished steel (down 3.6 percent and 7.2 percent, respectively, vs. April final data). Year-to-date (YTD) total and finished steel imports are 18,597,000 and 15,368,000 net tons (nt), respectively, up 6 percent and 20 percent respectively, vs. the same period in 2014. Annualized total and finished steel imports in 2015 would be 44.6 and 36.8 million nt, up 1 percent and 9 percent respectively vs. 2014. Finished steel import market share was an estimated 29 percent in May and is estimated at 32 percent YTD.
Key finished steel products with a significant import increase in May compared to April are tin plate (up 101 percent), sheets and strip galvanized hot dipped (up 17 percent), hot rolled bars (up 15 percent), cut lengths plates (up 13 percent), hot rolled sheets (up 12 percent) and standard pipe (up 11 percent). Major products with significant YTD import increases vs. the same period last year include line pipe (up 67 percent), standard pipe (up 44 percent), reinforcing bars (up 38 percent), heavy structural shapes (up 36 percent), cut lengths plates (up 36 percent), tin plate (up 32 percent), plates in coils (up 28 percent), cold rolled sheets (up 27 percent), sheets and strip galvanized hot dipped (up 26 percent) and hot rolled sheets (up 13 percent).
In May, the largest volumes of finished steel imports from offshore were all from Asia and Europe. They were from South Korea (355,000 nt, down 30 percent vs. April final), China (302,000 nt, up 3 percent), Turkey (222,000 nt, down 3 percent), Japan (184,000 nt, down 19 percent) and Germany (131,000 nt, up 8 percent). For five months of 2015, the largest offshore suppliers were South Korea (2,745,000 nt, up 28 percent), Turkey (1,446,000 nt, up 90 percent), China (1,330,000 nt, up 3 percent), Japan (1,047,000 nt, up 23 percent) and Germany (675,000 nt, up 40 percent).