Based on the US Department of Commerce’s most recent Steel Import Monitoring and Analysis (SIMA) data, steel import permit applications for the month of July 2021 totaled 2,527,616 mt. This was a 3.9 percent decrease from the 2,630,728 mt in preliminary census data totals recorded in June but a 2.8 percent increase from the 2,458,038 mt in census data totals recorded in July 2020.
In July, import permits for flat steel products totaled 890,216 mt, down 8.8 percent from June’s preliminary census data; import permits for long steel products totaled 416,427 mt, down 4.9 percent from June; import permits for pipe and tube products totaled 326,741 mt, down 7.3 percent from June; and import permits for semi-finished products totaled 752,731 mt, up 3.5 percent from June.
The largest sources of steel import permit applications in July were Canada (438,539 mt), Brazil (414,975 mt), Mexico (321,999 mt), Korea (226,937 mt), and Russia (154,968 mt).