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 March 2019 totaled 2,428,584 mt. This was a 5.0 percent increase from the 2,311,980 mt in permits recorded in February but a 19.7 percent decrease from the 3,023,347 mt (census data) of steel imports in March 2018.
In March, steel products with the largest total steel import permits included blooms, billets and slab at a combined 717,584 mt; OCTG, at 202,552 mt; HDG, at 183,272 mt; line pipe, at 140,043 mt; CRC, at 125,900 mt; and HRC, at 119,923 mt.
The largest sources of steel import permit applications in March were Brazil (340,460 mt), Canada (326,793 mt), Russia (280,054 mt), Mexico (266,784 mt), and Korea (168,252 mt).