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 April totaled 3,562,181 mt. This was a 12.8 percent increase from the 3,157,087 mt in permits recorded in March and a 17.8 percent increase from the March census import total of 3,023,347 mt.
In April, steel products with the largest total import permits include blooms, billets and slab at a combined 864,925 mt; HDG, at 330,653 mt; OCTG, at 280,640 mt; line pipe, at 235,154 mt; HRC, at 229,996 mt; and CRC, at 212,222 mt.
The largest sources of steel import permit applications in April were Canada (608,814 mt), Russia (450,874 mt), Brazil (403,458 mt), Korea (393,953 mt), and Mexico (357,336 mt).