AISI: Preliminary U.S. Steel Imports Decrease 1% in March
04/26/2013 - The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) reported that the U.S. imported a total of 2,476,000 tons of steel in March, including 1,967,000 tons of finished steel (down 1% and up 4%, respectively, vs. February final data).
Based on preliminary Census Bureau data, the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) reported that the U.S. imported a total of 2,476,000 tons of steel in March, including 1,967,000 tons of finished steel (down 1% and up 4%, respectively, vs. February final data). According to the Census Bureau data, year -to-date (YTD) total and finished steel imports are 7,601,000 and 5,996,000 tons, respectively, down 12% and 8% vs. 2012. Annualized total and finished steel imports in 2013 would be 30.4 and 24.0 million tons, down 9% and 7% respectively vs. 2012. Finished steel import market share was an estimated 22% in March and is estimated at 23% YTD.
Key finished steel products with a significant import increase in March 2013 compared to February are reinforcing bar (up 88%), hot rolled bars (up 21%), tin plate (up 20%), sheets and strip galvanized hot dipped (up 20%), oil country goods (up 18%) and sheet and strip all other metallic coatings (up 18%). Major products with significant YTD import increases vs. the same period last year include sheets and strip hot dipped galvanized (up 26%).
In March, the largest volumes of finished steel imports from offshore were all from Asia and Europe. They were from South Korea (231,000 tons, down 18%), Japan (177,000 tons, up 39%), China (136,000 tons, down 6%), Turkey (154,000 tons, up 34%) and India (75,000 tons, up 72%). For 3 months of 2013, the largest offshore suppliers were South Korea (875,000 tons, down 5%), China (447,000 tons, up 51%), Japan (443,000 tons, down 9%), Turkey (403,000 tons, down 22%) and Germany (248,000 tons, down 17%).
