Based on the Commerce Department’s most recent Steel Import Monitoring and Analysis data, the American Iron and Steel Institute reported that steel import permit applications for the month of August totaled 2,134,000 net tons. This was a 40.8% decrease from the 3,606,000 permit tons recorded in July and a 29.6% decrease from the July final imports total of 3,030,000. Import permit tonnage for finished steel in August was 1,765,000, down 4.4% from the final imports total of 1,845,000 in July. For the first eight months of 2019 (including August SIMA permits and July final imports), total and finished steel imports were 20,803,000 net tons and 15,303,000 net tons, down 13.0% and 16.0%, respectively, from the same period in 2018. The estimated finished steel import market share in August was 19% and is 20% YTD.
Finished steel imports with large increases in August permits vs. July final imports included sheets and strip electrolytic galvanized (up 99%), black plate (up 33%), tin free steel (up 32%), cold finished bars (up 19%), line pipe (up 15%), structural pipe and tubing (up 13%) and hot rolled sheets (up 11%). Products with significant YTD increases vs. the same period in 2018 include black plate (up 110%), steel piling (up 49%) and tin free steel (up 23%).
In August, the largest finished steel import permit applications for offshore countries were for South Korea (250,000 net tons, up 39% from July final), Japan (148,000 net tons, up 70%), Germany (72,000 net tons, down 5%), Taiwan (63,000 net tons, down 25%) and The Netherlands (59,000 net tons, down 3%). Through the first eight months of 2019, the largest offshore suppliers were South Korea (1,879,000 net tons, down 11% from the same period last year), Japan (959,000 net tons, down 2%) and Germany (764,000 net tons, down 12%).
Source of information