The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) reported Wednesday that based on the most recent Steel Import Monitoring and Analysis (SIMA) data, the US' steel import permit applications totaled 1.42 million nt in March, which is a 15 percent decrease from the 1.66 million nt of permit applications in February, and a 9=nine percent decrease from 1.55 million nt of preliminary imports recorded in February. Import tonnage for finished steel totaled 1.35 million nt in March, which represents a six percent decrease from the 1.44 million nt of preliminary imports of finished steel in February.
Furthermore, based on the import data for the first quarter of the year, total and finished steel import permit tons would annualize at approximately 21.35 million nt and 19.81 million nt in 2009, down 33 and 24 percent respectively from 2008, at 31.93 million nt and 25.96 million nt respectively.
However, some major finished steel import products registered significant preliminary import tonnage increases in March from February such as reinforcing bar, at 176 percent; mechanical tubing, at 32 percent; line pipe, at 32 percent and standard rolls, at 22 percent.
The largest quantity of finished steel import permit applications from offshore companies during March came from China, at 155,000 nt; followed by South Korea, at 126,000 nt; Japan, at 113,000 nt; India, at 93,000 nt and Turkey, at 77,000 nt. March cumulative tonnage from the top three foreign sources (China, South Korea and Japan) accounted for an estimated 31 percent of all finished imports, which is just about as much as the 32 percent that was imported from NAFTA countries.
Despite the drop in total steel import permits, Thomas J. Gibson, president and CEO of AISI, commented on the March 2009 import data, "In the midst of a severe global recession, the underlying foreign government policies and practices that have severely disrupted world steel markets continue unchanged. Especially at this time of economic crisis, it is critical that we remain vigilant against any unfair trade surges in the US market."