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 February totaled 1,651,000 net tons (nt), up 5.2 percent from the 1,569,000 permit tons recorded in January and unchanged from the January’s final imports total of 1,650,000 nt.
Import permit tonnage for finished steel in February was 1,189,000 nt, down 4.8 percent from the final imports total of 1,249,000 nt in January. For the first two months of 2025 (including February SIMA permits and January final imports), total and finished steel imports were 3,300,000 nt and 2,438,000 nt, down 37.9 percent and 38 percent, respectively, from the same period in 2025. The estimated finished steel import market share in February was 15 percent and is 15 percent year-to-date (YTD).
Steel imports with large increases in February permits vs. January final imports include structural pipe and tubing (up 41 percent), hot rolled bars (up 31 percent), line pipe (up 31 percent), blooms, billets and slabs (up 15 percent, and wire rods (up 14 percent). Products with significant YTD increases vs. the same period in 2025 include tin free steel (up 15 percent and heavy structural shapes (up 13 percent).
In February, the largest steel import permit applications were for South Korea (291,000 nt, up 2 percent from January final imports), Canada (231,000 nt, up 6 percent), Brazil (226,000 nt, up 28 percent), Mexico (175,000 nt, down 26 percent) and Japan (127,000 nt, up 203 percent). Through the first two months of 2026, the largest suppliers were South Korea (576,000 nt, up 11 percent), Canada (450,000 nt down 60 percent) and Mexico (410,000 nt, off 46 percent).