Total, Finished Steel Import Permits Up 8.6%, 11% in January
02/03/2011 - Steel import permit applications reached a total of 2,011,000 net tons for the month of January, an 8.6% increase from the 1,852,000 permit tons recorded in December according to the latest report from AISI.
Steel import permit applications reached a total of 2,011,000 net tons for the month of January, according to the latest report from the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI). The January total represents an 8.6% increase from the 1,852,000 permit tons recorded in December and an 11% increase from the December preliminary imports total of 1,811,000 net tons. It is also the first time import permit applications have broken the 2 million ton mark since last September.
The report, which is based on the Commerce Department’s most recent Steel Import Monitoring and Analysis (SIMA) data, shows that the January total includes import permit tonnage of 1,602,000 net tons for finished steel in January, up 11% from the preliminary imports total of 1,445,000 net tons in December.
January 2011 total steel import permit tons would annualize at 24,128,000 net tons, up 1% from the 23,868,000 net tons imported in 2010. Finished steel import permit tons would annualize at 19,226,000 net tons, up 2% from the 18,787,000 net tons imported in 2010.
In January, the largest finished steel import permit applications for offshore countries were for Korea (213,000 net tons, up 22% from December), Japan (134,000 net tons, up 25%), Germany (94,000 net tons, up 31%), Australia (74,000 net tons, up 44%) and China (54,000 net tons, down 2%).
The estimated finished steel import market share in January was 20%. Finished steel import permits for major products that registered large increases in January vs. the December preliminary include
· Line pipe (up 56%)
· Oil country goods (up 46%)
· Standard pipe (up 32%)
· Sheets and strip all other metallic coated (up 30%)
· Reinforcing bar (up 25%)
· Wire rods (up 22%)
· Plates in coil (up 21%).
“The domestic steel industry is expecting 2011 to be a period of ongoing, but still fragile and uneven, recovery,” said AISI President and CEO Thomas J. Gibson, commenting on the January 2011 SIMA data. “The fact that steel import market share is staying in the 20% range is a cause of ongoing concern.
“As conditions in the U.S. economy and steel market continue to improve, it is especially important that dumped and subsidized imports not undermine the progress that domestic steel companies are making to get back to full recovery,” concluded Gibson.
AISI serves as the voice of the North American steel industry in the public policy arena and advances the case for steel in the marketplace as the preferred material of choice. AISI also plays a lead role in the development and application of new steels and steelmaking technology. The Institute comprises 24 member companies, including integrated and electric furnace steelmakers, and 140 associate and affiliate members who are suppliers to or customers of the steel industry.
