Import Permits Continue to Decrease, According to Commerce Department’s SIMA Data

Source: AISI

1-minute read

According to U.S. Commerce Department data, the U.S.  steel import applications totaled 1,864,000 net tons (NT) for November 2019. This is 28.1% fewer tons than the 2,594,000 recorded in October.

Import data for finished steel in November was 1,201,000, which is down 18.8% from October’s 1,479,000. As of November, total and finished steel imports for the first 11 months of 2019 are 26,634,000 NT and 19,545,000. This is a decrease of 16.3% and 18.6%, respectively, from the imports for the same period in 2018. Estimated market share for finished steel in November stood at 14%, and is expected to be 19% year-to-date.

The finished steel products with a significant increase in imports between October and November were: black plate (up 353%); cut lengths plates (up 39%); line pipe (up 28%); reinforcing bars (up 18%), and hot rolled bars (up 16%).

The finished steel imports in November 2019 originated primarily in South Korea (175K NT), Japan (75K NT), The Netherlands (71K NT), Germany (56K NT), and Taiwan (35K NT). Similarly, for the first eleven months of 2019, the largest volume of finished steel imports originated in South Korea (2,394K NT), Japan (1,165K NT), and Germany (966K NT).

 

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