The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) reported Wednesday that based on the US Department of Commerce's most recent Steel Import Monitoring and Analysis (SIMA) data, steel permit applications in September totaled 2,221,000 net tons (nt)--down 11 percent from the 2,481,000 nt in August, and a 9 percent decrease from August preliminary imports of 2,440,000 nt.
Import permits for finished steel in September totaled 1,659,000 nt, 9 percent lower compared to August preliminary imports of 1,813,000 nt. The estimated finished steel import market share in September was 20 percent and is 22 percent year-to-date.
In September, the largest finished steel import permit applications for offshore countries were for Korea (199,000 nt, down 0.3 percent from August), Japan (128,000 nt, up 40 percent), China (113,000 nt, down 5 percent), Germany (74,000 nt, down 9 percent) and The Netherlands (62,000 nt, up 138 percent).
While overall import permit applications registered a decrease in September, a few unlikely products saw large increases in imports compared to August. Standard rail import permits were up 104 percent; tin plate permits rose 29 percent while sheets and strip (all other metallic coated) import permits jumped 54 percent.
Even with the general decline in September, AISI's President and CEO was still concerned over the high levels of imports making their way in the US, commenting, "Given the significant underutilization of domestic steel capacity and the slowdown in the US and global economic recovery, the substantial finished steel import market share of 22 percent remains of concern. At a time when our economic recovery is at increased risk, AISI believes more needs to be done to combat currency manipulation and other unfair trade practices that enable producers in China and elsewhere to ship steel and other manufactured goods here at dumped and subsidized prices."