Based on preliminary Census Bureau data, the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) reported Tuesday that the US imported a total of 2,802,000 net tons (nt) of steel in May, including 2,123,000 net tons nt of finished steel (up 2 percent and down 1 percent, respectively, versus April final data). Year-to-date total and finished steel imports are 13,236,000 nt and 10,359,000 nt respectively, down 11 percent and 9 percent compared to 2012. Annualized total and finished steel imports in 2013 would be 31.8 and 24.9 million nt, down 5 percent and 4 percent respectively versus 2012. Finished steel import market share was an estimated 23 percent in May and is estimated at 23 percent year-to-date.
Key finished steel products with a significant import increase in May 2013 compared to April are reinforcing bar (up 269 percent); hot rolled bars (up 63 percent); wire rods (up 28 percent) and sheets and strip hot dipped galvanized (up 15 percent).
In May, the largest volumes of finished steel imports from offshore were all from Asia and Europe. They were from South Korea (250,000 nt and down 9 percent); China (184,000 nt and up 66 percent); Turkey (171,000 nt and up 158 percent); Japan (169,000 nt and down 19 percent); and India (85,000 nt and up 43 percent). For the first five months of 2013, the largest offshore suppliers were South Korea, Japan, China, Turkey, and Germany.