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 February totaled 2,208,893 mt. This was a 16.4 percent decrease from the 2,643,700 mt in permits recorded in January and a 15.4 percent decrease from the January census import total of 2,611,857 mt.
In February, steel products with the largest total import permits include blooms, billets and slab at a combined 358,914 mt; OCTG, at 213,404 mt; HDG, at 196,251 mt; CRC, at 143,685 mt; HRC, at 138,438 mt; and line pipe, at 120,891 mt.
The largest sources of steel import permit applications in February were Canada (451,846 mt), Mexico (242,328 mt), Korea (229,232 mt), Brazil (161,303 mt), and Japan (136,336 mt).