Industry snapshot: A recent report published by the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) shared Census Bureau data detailing current import numbers, compared to those of last year.

Source: American Iron and Steel Institute

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A recent report published by the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) shared Census Bureau data detailing current import numbers, compared to those of last year.

As of the end of October, the U.S. imported a total of 3,264,000 net tons (NT) of steel in October 2018, of which 1,991,000 NT were finished steel. These levels represent an increase of 44.2% and 6.7%, respectively, compared to September final data.

However, overall annual steel import levels are in decline. Year-to-date (YTD) through 10 months of 2018, showed that total and finished steel imports were 29,436,000 and 22,082,000 NT, a decrease of 10.6% in total imports, and a decrease of 13.4% in finished steel, when compared to same periods in 2017.

According to AISI’s report, annualized total and finished steel imports this year (2018) are expected to be 35.3 and 26.5 million NT, respectively. This, too, is a decrease of 7.4% and 10.4%, respectively, compared to 2017.

In terms of finished steel import market share, AISI notes that its share in October was an estimated 20%, and is expected to increase to 21% YTD.

According to the report, some of the finished steel product that contributed to the monthly increase include hot rolled bars (up 55%), line pipe (up 37%), mechanical tubing (up 23%), tin plate (up 13%) and wire drawn (up 13%).

Similarly, major products with significant YTD increases vs. the same period in 2017 include hot rolled sheets (up 23%) and plates in coils (up 19%). However, decreases in structural shapes heavy (down 30%), wire rods (down 29%) cold rolled sheets (down 21%) have contributed to the overall drop in imports.

According to AISI, the largest volumes of finished steel imports in October were from South Korea (183,000 NT, down 3% from September), Vietnam (115,000 NT, up 53%), Germany (113,000 NT, down 3%), Japan (105,000 NT, up 17%) and The Netherlands (78,000 NT, up 35%).

When comparing the first 10 months of 2018, to data of the same period in 2017, the largest finished steel suppliers were South Korea (2,479,000 NT, down 26% vs. 2017), Japan (1,169,000 NT, down 11%), Germany (1,100,000 NT, down 5%), Turkey (1,041,000 NT, down 50%) and Taiwan (913,000 NT, down 21%).

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