Industry snapshot: Based on the Commerce Department’s recent Steel Import Monitoring and Analysis (SIMA) data, steel import permit applications decreased by 15.4% from October.
Source: American Iron and Steel Institute
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According to the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI), steel import permit applications for the month of November were approximately 2,544,000 net tons (NT) (as of December 5th), a decreased of 15.4% from the 3,007,000 tons recorded in October and 22.1% less than the 3,246,000 NT total imports reported in AISI’s preliminary report for the month of October.
Similarly, import permits for finished steel also decreased from 1,991,000 NT in October, to 1,920,000 NT in November, a decrease of 3.6%.
When combining Commerce Department’s SIMA data with AISI’s preliminary report for October, total imports and finished steel for the first 11 months of 2018 were 31,979,000 NT and 24,002,000 NT. These numbers represent a decrease of 10.4% and 13.3%, respectively, from the same period in 2017. In addition, the finished steel import market share was 20% in November, and is 23% year-to-date (YTD), an increase of 2 percent from October’s YTD estimate.
Some finished steel imports that had large increases in November, when compared to the month of October, include: electrolytic galvanized sheets and strip (224% increase), wire rods (86%), heavy structural shapes (62% ), tin free steel (34%), mechanical tubing (14%), and sheets and strip all other metallic coatings (14%).
Products with significant increases for the first 11 months of 2018 compared to same period in 2017 include hot rolled sheets (up 21%) and plates in coils (up 15%).
The offshore countries who had largest finished steel import permit applications in November include: South Korea (182,000 NT, 1% decrease from October’s data), Japan (142,000 NT, 35% increase), Germany (123,000 NT, 8% increase), Vietnam (115,000 NT, no change), and Taiwan (92,000 NT, 36% increase).
The largest offshore suppliers of finished steel through the first 11 months of 2018 include South Korea (2,660,000 NT, down 25% from same period in 2017), Japan (1,311,000 NT, down 8%) and Germany (1,222,000 NT, down 6%).
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