AISI: U.S. Import Permits Up 4% in May
06/05/2013 - 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 May total 2,800,000 tons.
This was a 4% increase from the 2,697,000 permit tons recorded in April and 2% increase from the April final imports total of 2,738,000 tons. Import permit tonnage for finished steel in May was 2,105,000, down 2% from the final imports total of 2,145,000 in April. For the first five months of 2013 (including May SIMA and April final), total and finished steel imports were 13,234,000 tons and 10,341,000 tons, respectively, down 11% and 9% from the same period in 2012. May 2013 total and finished steel import permit tons would annualize at 31,761,000 tons and 24,818,000 tons, down 5% and 4%, respectively, vs. the 33,475,000 tons and 25,826,000 tons imported in 2012. The estimated finished steel import market share in May was 22% and is 23% year-to-date (YTD).
Finished steel imports with large increases in May permits vs. the April final included reinforcing bars (up 361%), hot rolled bars (up 50%), wire rods (up 30%) and steel piling (up 107%). Products with significant year-to-date (YTD) increases vs. the same period in 2012 include steel piling (up 86%), sheets and strip galvanized electrolytic (up 35%) and cold rolled strip (up 32%).
In May, the largest finished steel import permit applications for offshore countries were for South Korea (286,000 tons, up 4% from April), Turkey (197,000 tons up 197%), China (179,000 tons, up 60%), Japan (147,000 tons, down 29%) and India (83,000 tons, up 40%). Through the first five months of 2013, the largest offshore suppliers were South Korea (1,523,000 tons, down 2% from the same period in 2012), Japan (805,000 tons, down 5%) and China (737,000 tons, up 24%).
