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 2019 totaled 2,614,143 mt. This was a 3.1 percent increase from the 2,534,866 mt in permits recorded in March but a 23.2 percent decrease from the 3,405,564 mt (census data) of steel imports in April 2018.
In April, steel products with the largest total steel import permits included blooms, billets and slab at a combined 767,151 mt; OCTG, at 232,831 mt; HDG, at 192,057 mt; line pipe, at 168,615 mt; HRC, at 138,492 mt; and CRC, at 126,470 mt.
The largest sources of steel import permit applications in April were Brazil (694,787 mt), Canada (333,760 mt), Mexico (272,746 mt), Korea (212,117 mt), and Japan (146,181 mt).