Based on preliminary Census Bureau data, the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) reported today that the US imported a total of 2,630,000 net tons of steel in June 2016, including 2,218,000 net tons of finished steel, down 8.6 percent and up 6.3 percent respectively, compared to May.
Year-to-date through six months of 2016 total and finished steel imports are 15,516,000 and 12,773,000 net tons, both down 29 percent compared to the same period in 2015. Annualized total and finished steel imports in 2016 would be 31 million nt and 25.5 million nt, down 20 percent and 19 percent respectively compared to 2015.
The share of imports in the domestic finished steel market was an estimated 25 percent in June and is estimated at 25 percent YTD.
Key finished steel products with a significant import increase in June compared to May are sheets and strip all other metallic coatings (up 44%), reinforcing bars (up 39%), line pipe (up 26%), plates in coils (up 19%), heavy structural shapes (up 19%), cold rolled sheets (up 14%), hot rolled bars (up 13%) and tin plate (up 12%).
In June, the largest volumes of offshore finished steel imports were from South Korea (334,000 nt, down 5% from May final), Turkey (196,000 nt, up 33%), Japan (145,000 nt, up 23%), Germany (122,000 nt, down 2%) and Taiwan (94,000 nt, up 27%).
For the first six months of 2016, the largest offshore suppliers were South Korea (1,923,000 nt, down 37%), Turkey (1,195,000 nt, down 26%), Japan (855,000 nt, down 31%), Germany (609,000 nt, down 26%) and Brazil (495,000 nt, down 28%).