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 September totaled 2,745,232 mt. This was a 14.6 percent decrease from the 3,215,671 mt in permits recorded in August and a 9.6 percent decrease from the August preliminary census import total of 3,038,106 mt.
According to the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI), the estimated finished steel import market share in September was 26 percent.
In September, steel products with the largest total import permits include blooms, billets and slab at a combined 536,854 mt; OCTG, at 289,556 mt; HDG, at 236,364 mt; line pipe, at 208,528 mt; CRC, at 178,809 mt; and HRC, at 152,496 mt.
The largest sources of steel import permit applications in September were Canada (430,071 mt), Korea (312,471 mt), Brazil (303,948 mt), Mexico (264,740 mt), and Russia (256,275 mt).