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 May totaled 2,693,426 mt. This was a 24.4 percent decrease from the 3,562,181 mt in permits recorded in April and a 20.9 percent decrease from the April census import total of 3,405,564 mt.
In May, steel products with the largest total import permits include blooms, billets and slab at a combined 454,819 mt; OCTG, at 238,017 mt; HDG, at 209,239 mt; HRC, at 196,354 mt; line pipe, at 156,070 mt; and CRC, at 154,501 mt.
The largest sources of steel import permit applications in May were Canada (624,249 mt), Mexico (405,118 mt), Brazil (262,602 mt), Japan (150,463 mt), and Germany (126,647 mt).