Based on preliminary Census Bureau data, the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) reported that the US imported a total of 2,351,000 net tons (nt) of steel in November 2015, including 1,921,000 net tons (nt) of finished steel (down 22.7 percent and 15.6 percent, respectively, vs. October final data).
Year-to-date (YTD) through eleven months of 2015 total and finished steel imports are 36,294,000 and 29,375,000 net tons (nt), respectively, down 11 percent and 5 percent respectively, vs. the same period in 2014. Annualized total and finished steel imports in 2015 would be 39.6 and 32.0 million nt, down 11 percent and 5 percent respectively vs. 2014.
Finished steel import market share was an estimated 25 percent in November and is estimated at 29 percent YTD. Key finished steel products with a significant import increase in November compared to October are cut length plates (up 42 percent) and oil country goods (up 12 percent). Major products with significant YTD import increases vs. the same period last year include reinforcing bar (up 39 percent), standard pipe (up 18 percent), line pipe (up 17 percent) and wire drawn (up 11 percent).
In November, the largest volumes of finished steel imports from offshore were from South Korea (298,000 nt, down 16 percent vs. October final), Japan (164,000 nt, up 20 percent), Turkey (147,000 nt, down 50 percent), Brazil (125,000 nt, down 13 percent) and Germany (86,000 nt, down 8 percent). For eleven months of 2015, the largest offshore suppliers were South Korea (4,602,000 nt, down 9 percent), Turkey (2,632,000 nt, up 29 percent), China (2,238,000 nt, down 25 percent), Japan (2,113,000 nt, up 10 percent) and Germany (1,393,000 nt, up 25 percent).