U.S. Import Permits Down 10% in June
07/03/2013 - The American Iron and Steel Institute reported that steel import permit applications for the month of June total 2,565,000 tons — this was a 10% decrease from the 2,853,000 permit tons recorded in May.
Based on the Commerce Department’s most recent Steel Import Monitoring and Analysis (SIMA) data, AISI reported that steel import permit applications for the month of June total 2,565,000 tons. This was a 10% decrease from the 2,853,000 permit tons recorded in May and 8% decrease from the May preliminary imports total of 2,802,000 tons. Import permit tonnage for finished steel in June was 2,014,000, down 5% from the preliminary imports total of 2,123,000 in May. For the first six months of 2013 (including June SIMA and May preliminary), total and finished steel imports were 15,801,000 tons and 12,372,000 tons, respectively, down 10% and 9% from the same period in 2012. June 2013 total and finished steel import permit tons would annualize at 31,602,000 tons and 24,745,000 tons, down 6% 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 June was 23% and is 23% year-to-date (YTD).
Finished steel imports with large increases in June permits vs. the May preliminary included hot rolled sheets (up 38%), plates in coils (up 25%), oil country goods (up 15%), mechanical tubing (up 12%) and line pipe (up 11%). Products with significant year-to-date (YTD) increases vs. the same period in 2012 include standard rails (up 26%), heavy structural shapes (up 18%) and tin plate (up 18%).
In June, the largest finished steel import permit applications for offshore countries were for South Korea (295,000 tons, up 18% from May preliminary), China (173,000 tons down 6%), Japan (130,000 tons, down 23%), Germany (89,000 tons, up 40%) and Turkey (85,000 tons, down 50%). Through the first six months of 2013, the largest offshore suppliers were South Korea (1,782,000 tons, down 6% from the same period in 2012), Japan (956,000 tons, down 5%) and China (917,000 tons, up 14%).
