US steel imports fell 18 percent in February

The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) reported that the United States imported a total of 3.584 million tonnes of steel in February 2015, including 2.832 million tonnes of finished steel, showing a drop in volumes of 18.4 percent and 20.7 percent. percent, respectively, in relation to the final data in January.

Since the beginning of the year, all imports of steel and finished steel reached 7.977 million tons and 6.405 million tons, an increase of 23 percent and 36 percent, respectively, compared to the same period in 2014. The share of imports in the US steel market was estimated to be 32 percent in February.

The main products of finished rolled products with a significant increase in imports in February compared to January were heavy structural forms (up to 46 percent), sheet metal (up to 18 percent) and galvanized sheets and strips (up to 12 percent).

Compared to the same two months of 2014, in January-February 2015, a significant increase in imports was observed for plates (up 120 percent), line pipes (up 104 percent), heavy structural forms (up 83 percent), cold-rolled sheets (up 62 percent) ), standard pipes (up to 55 percent), tin (up to 42 percent).

In February, the largest volumes of finished imported steel came from South Korea (481,000 tons, down 43 percent compared to January), China (265,000 tons, up 34 percent), Turkey (235,000 tons, down 21 percent), Japan ( 211,000 tons, down 13 percent) and Germany (138,000 tons, down 10 percent).

The largest maritime suppliers in the first two months of this year were South Korea (1.318 million tonnes, up 60 percent), Turkey (533,000 tonnes, up 78 percent), China (462,000 tonnes, up 26 percent), Japan ( 452,000 tons, up 38 percent) and Brazil (297,000 tons, up 271 percent).