Based on the US Commerce Department’s most recent Steel Import Monitoring and Analysis (SIMA) data, the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) reported Wednesday that steel import permit applications for the month of February total 3,194,000 net tons (nt). This was a 2 percent decrease from the 3,259,000 permit tons recorded in January and 1 percent increase from the January preliminary imports total of 3,172,000 nt. Import permit tonnage for finished steel in February was 2,211,000, down 8 percent from the preliminary imports total of 2,409,000 in January. For the first two months of 2014 (including February SIMA and January preliminary), total and finished steel imports were 6,366,000 nt and 4,620,000 nt, respectively, up 24 percent and 15 percent from the same period in 2013. The estimated finished steel import market share in February was 25 percent and is 25 percent year-to-date (YTD).
Finished steel imports with large increases in February permits vs. the January preliminary included tin plate (up 76 percent), cut lengths plates (up 57 percent), structural pipe and tubing (up 39 percent), mechanical tubing (up 25 percent) and plates in coils (up 17 percent). Products with significant year-to-date (YTD) increases vs. the same period in 2013 include wire rods (up 82 percent), plates in coils (up 80 percent), reinforcing bars (up 52 percent), sheets and strip all other metallic coatings (up 41 percent), sheets and strip galvanized hot dipped (up 31 percent), hot rolled sheets (up 30 percent), oil country goods (up 27 percent), mechanical tubing (up 27 percent) and cold rolled sheets (up 16 percent).
In February, the largest finished steel import permit applications for offshore countries were for South Korea (397,000 nt, down 8 percent from January preliminary), China (170,000 nt down 11 percent), India (143,000 nt up 103 percent), Japan (141,000 nt, down 11 percent) and Turkey (91,000 nt, down 55 percent). Through the first two months of 2014, the largest offshore suppliers were South Korea (826,000 nt, up 28 percent from the same period in 2013), China (360,000 nt, up 16 percent) and Japan (301,000 nt, up 13 percent).