Based on preliminary Census Bureau data, the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) reported Monday that the US imported a total of 2,773,000 net tons (nt) of steel in September 2015, including 2,168,000 net tons (nt) of finished steel (down 9.4 percent and 12.5 percent, respectively, vs. August final data).
Year-to-date (YTD) through nine months of 2015 total and finished steel imports are 30,841,000 and 25,122,000 net tons (nt), respectively, down 5 percent and up 3 percent respectively, vs. the same period in 2014. Annualized total and finished steel imports in 2015 would be 41.1 and 33.5 million nt, down 7 percent and 1 percent respectively vs. 2014. Finished steel import market share was an estimated 25 percent in September and is estimated at 30 percent YTD.
Key finished steel products with a significant import increase in September compared to August are cut
lengths plates (up 36 percent) and tin plate (up 39 percent). Major products with significant YTD import increases vs. the same period last year include reinforcing bar (up 48 percent), line pipe (up 34 percent), standard pipe (up 23 percent), tin plate (up 20 percent), sheets and strip hot dipped galvanized (up 12 percent) and wire drawn (up 11 percent).
In September, the largest volumes of finished steel imports from offshore were from South Korea (279,000 nt, down 8 percent vs. August final), Japan (181,000 nt, down 16 percent), Turkey (151,000 nt, down 12 percent), Germany (148,000 nt, up 74 percent) and China (139,000 nt, down 11 percent). For nine months of 2015, the largest offshore suppliers were South Korea (3,949,000 nt, down 2 percent), Turkey (2,189,000 nt, up 48 percent), China (2,100,000 nt, down 10 percent), Japan (1,806,000 nt, up 18 percent) and Germany (1,201,000 nt, up 33 percent).