US: steel imports down 21% in April

Based on preliminary Census Bureau data, the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) reported Wednesday that the US imported a total of 1,214,000 net tons (1,101,322 metric tons) of steel in April 2009, including 1,107,000 nt (1,004,253 mt) of finished steel. The total and finished steel preliminary import totals for April are down 21 percent and 25 percent, respectively, from March final data.

Furthermore, compared to April of last year, April 2009 finished product imports were down 50.4 percent.

Compared to March, the only finished products which saw imports increase in April were heavy structural shapes (up 15 percent), cold rolled sheets (up nine percent) and tin plate (up five percent). Semi-finished products, including ingots, billets and slabs, also rose in April compared to the preceding month, from 56,631 nt (51,375 mt) in March to 105,614 nt (98,811 mt) in April.

For year-to-date (YTD) 2009 steel imports vs. the same period of last year, only OCTG imports (mostly from China) have increased, by about 50 percent.

According to AISI, finished steel import market share was an estimated 25 percent in April and YTD through the first four months of the year was an estimated 30 percent.