Based on the US Department of Commerce's most recent Steel Import Monitoring and Analysis (SIMA) data, the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) reported Wednesday that steel import permit applications for the month of November totaled 2,277,000 net tons (nt), showing a decrease of 23 percent from October steel import permit totals and October preliminary steel import totals.
The AISI said import permit tonnage for finished steel in November was 2,123,000 nt, a decrease of nine percent from the preliminary import total of 2,344,000 nt in October. For the first 11 months of 2008 (including November SIMA and October preliminary), total steel imports were 29,576,000 nt, down five percent from the same period of 2007.
For November 2008, the largest finished steel import permit applications for offshore countries were for China (555,000 nt), South Korea (236,000 nt), Turkey, (154,000 nt) and Japan (123,000 nt). The AISI pointed out that, mainly because of the highest 2008 monthly amounts of import permits for pipe and tubular products from China (450,000 nt), Chinese permit tons in November were the third highest monthly amount for 2008. However, total permit tonnage for Chinese steel decreased 22 percent in November vs. October preliminary imports.