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AISI: December U.S. Imports Down 11% from November

01/03/2013 - The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) reported that U.S. steel import permit applications for the month of December totaled 2,358,000 tons. This was a 10% decrease from the 2,615,000 permit tons recorded in November and down 11% from the November preliminary imports total of 2,659,000 tons.

Based on the Commerce Department’s most recent Steel Import Monitoring and Analysis (SIMA) data, the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) reported that steel import permit applications for the month of December totaled 2,358,000 tons. This was a 10% decrease from the 2,615,000 permit tons recorded in November and down 11% from the November preliminary imports total of 2,659,000 tons. Import permit tonnage for finished steel in December was 1,629,000 tons, down 18% from the preliminary imports total of 1,988,000 tons in November. December 2012 total and finished steel import permit tons would annualize at 33,310,000 tons and 25,620,000 tons, up 17% each, respectively, vs. the 28,515,000 tons and 21,835,000 tons imported in 2011. The estimated finished steel import market share in December was 22%, and it is 24% for full year 2012.
Finished steel imports with large increases in December permits vs. the November preliminary include mechanical tubing (up 27%) and hot rolled sheets (up 16%).   Major products with significant full year increases vs. 2011 include reinforcing bars (up 48%), line pipe (up 39%), sheets and strip galvanized hot dipped (up 36%), oil country goods (up 23%), sheets and strip all other metallic coatings (up 22%) and cut lengths plates (up 18%).
In December, the largest finished steel import permit applications for offshore countries were for South Korea (167,000 tons, down 41% from November), China (158,000 tons, up 9%), Germany (120,000 tons, up 19%), Japan (83,000 tons, down 42%) and The Netherlands (77,000 tons, up 24%). Through full year 2012, the largest offshore suppliers were South Korea (3,646,000 tons, up 29% from the same period in 2011), Japan (1,926,000 tons, up 30%) and China (1,627,000 tons, up 32%).
"December data indicates that steel imports for the month and year-end totals have continued to trend at significantly high levels—with an estimated finished steel import market share of 24% in 2012," AISI President and CEO Thomas J. Gibson, said. "We will continue to stress that this significant import trend is largely the result of foreign government subsidies, currency manipulation, trade barriers and dumping. AISI continues to seek aggressive engagement by the U.S. federal government to address this serious issue. If the import surge is left unchecked, the industry’s recovery from the recession will be negatively impacted and will result in additional job loss throughout the steel supply chain."