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U.S. Imports Fell 5% in June, But Import Market Share Remained at 24%

07/06/2012 - The American Iron and Steel Institute reported steel import permit applications for the month of June totaled 2,796,000 tons - a 5% decline from May import levels.

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 June totaled 2,796,000 tons. This was a 5% decrease from the 2,939,000 permit tons recorded in May and also a 5% decrease from the May preliminary imports total of 2,945,000 tons.  Import permit tonnage for finished steel in June was 2,171,000 tons, down 7% from the preliminary imports total of 2,323,000 tons in May. June 2012 total and finished steel import permit tons would annualize at 34,975,000 tons and 26,965,000 tons, each up 23%, respectively, vs. the 28,515,000 tons and 21,835,000 tons imported in 2011. The estimated finished steel import market share in June was 24%.
 In June, the largest finished steel import permit applications for offshore countries were for South Korea (331,000 tons, up 3% from May), China (195,000 tons, up 26%), Japan (152,000 tons, down 18%), Germany (127,000 tons, up 23%) and Taiwan (75,000 tons, down 5%). Through the first 6 months of 2012, the largest offshore suppliers were South Korea (1,885,000 tons, up 25% from the same period in 2011), Japan (1,001,000 tons, up 32%) and China (790,000 tons, up 41%).
Finished steel import permits for products that registered large increases in June vs. the May preliminary include tin free steel (up 102%), hot rolled bars (up 9%) and tin plate (up 8%).   Major products with significant year-to-date (YTD) increases vs. the same period in 2011 include reinforcing bars (up 55%), cut lengths plates (up 52%), oil country goods (up 41%), line pipe (up 38% and sheets and strip hot dipped galvanized (up 37%). 
“With the global economy slowing and U.S. finished steel import market share at 24%, it is critical that the U.S. government strictly enforce our trade laws,” Thomas J. Gibson, AISI president and CEO, said in commenting on the June 2012 SIMA data. “There must be zero tolerance for dumped and subsidized steel imports coming into this country.”
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 member companies, including integrated and electric furnace steelmakers, and 124 associate and the development and application of new steels and steelmaking technology. AISI is comprised of 25 affiliate members who are suppliers to or customers of the steel industry. AISI's member companies represent over three quarters of both U.S. and North American steel capacity.