Rolled steel imports occupy 28% of the US steel market - AISI

Based on the latest analysis of the Department of Commerce data on steel imports, the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) reported that permits for imports of steel products for December were 2,551 thousand tons, down 5 percent from the 2681 thousand tons of permits registered in December. November, but 8 percent more compared to November imports, which totaled 2,351 thousand tons.

In December, permits for the import of finished steel formed a tonnage of 2,041,000, which is 6 percent higher than the preliminary import of 1,921,000 tons in November. For the full year 2015 (including pre-December imports), all imports of steel and finished steel products reached 38,844 thousand tons and 31,416 thousand tons, respectively. The list of finished rolled products includes the entire range of metal products presented at Vesta Metal catalog . According to estimates, the share of imports of finished rolled products in December was 28 percent and 29 percent since the beginning of the year.

During 2015, the largest suppliers of steel products to the United States were: South Korea (4,861 thousand tons, down 11 percent from 2014), Turkey (2,792 thousand tons, up 27 percent) and China (2,333 thousand tons, up 27 percent lower on an annualized basis).

Steel products whose imports showed a significant increase in permits in December versus November include wire rod (up to 72 percent), hot rolled sheets (up to 52 percent), heavy structural forms (up to 25 percent), hot rolled bars (up to 22 percent), and cold rolled sheets (up to 11 percent).

Products with significant year-to-date increases compared to 2014 include rebar (up 38 percent) and standard pipes (up 13 percent).

In December, the largest permits for the import of finished rolled products were for countries such as South Korea (259 thousand tons, 13 percent lower than November), Turkey (160 thousand tons, up 9 percent), Japan (120 thousand tons, down 27 percent ), China (95 thousand tons, up 50 percent) and Brazil (100 thousand tons, down 20 percent).