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 December totaled 2,243,619 mt. This was a 13.2 percent decrease from the 2,585,403 mt in permits recorded in November and a 10.5 percent decrease from the November census import total of 2,505,478 mt.
In December, steel products with the largest total import permits include blooms, billets and slab at a combined 481,535 mt; OCTG, at 198,290 mt; HDG, at 196,386 mt; CRC, at 149,110 mt; HRC, at 130,199 mt; and line pipe, at 114,518 mt.
The largest sources of steel import permit applications in December were Canada (448,525 mt), Brazil (323,749 mt), Mexico (216,835 mt), Russia (166,734 mt), and Korea (162,167 mt).