AISI: Import Market Share in U.S. at 23% in April
05/01/2013 - The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) reported that steel import permit applications for the month of April total 2,576,000 tons. This was a 3% decrease from the 2,650,000 permit tons recorded in March but up by 4% from the March preliminary imports total of 2,476,000 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 April total 2,576,000 tons. This was a 3% decrease from the 2,650,000 permit tons recorded in March but up by 4% from the March preliminary imports total of 2,476,000 tons. Import permit tonnage for finished steel in April was 2,003,000, up 2% from the preliminary imports total of 1,967,000 in March. For the first four months of 2013 (including April SIMA and March preliminary), total and finished steel imports were 10,176,000 tons and 7,999,000 tons, respectively, down 13% and 11% from the same period in 2012. April 2013 total and finished steel import permit tons would annualize at 30,529,000 tons and 23,998,000 tons, down 9% and 7%, respectively, vs. the 33,475,000 tons and 25,826,000 tons imported in 2012. The estimated finished steel import market share in April was 23% and is 23% year-to-date (YTD).
Finished steel imports with large increases in April permits vs. the March preliminary included cut lengths plates (up 74%), wire rods (up 45%), standard pipe (up 36%), cold rolled sheets (up 19%) and mechanical tubing (up 19%). Major products with significant year-to-date (YTD) increases vs. the same period in 2012 include steel piling (up 60%) and cold rolled strip (up 36%).
In April, the largest finished steel import permit applications for offshore countries were for South Korea (275,000 tons, up 18% from March), Japan (220,000 tons up 25%), China (124,000 tons, down 9%), Germany (114,000 tons, up 56%) and Turkey (72,000 tons, down 53%). Through the first four months of 2013, the largest offshore suppliers were South Korea (1,150,000 tons, down 7% from the same period in 2012), Japan (663,000 tons, up 0.1%) and China (571,000 tons, up 30%).
