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YTD Finished Steel Imports up 29% through February
03/08/2012 - Total steel import permit applications reached 2,549,000 net tons for February 2012, a 10% decrease from 2,826,000 permit tons recorded in January according to the most recent report from AISI. Through the first two months of 2012, finished steel imports were 4.1 million net tons, up 29% vs. the same period last year.
Total steel import permit applications reached 2,549,000 net tons for the month of February 2012, according to the most recent report from the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI). The February total represents a 10% decrease from the 2,826,000 permit tons recorded in January, and a 0.1% increase from the January preliminary imports total of 2,546,000 net tons.
The report, which is based on the Commerce Department’s most recent Steel Import Monitoring and Analysis (SIMA) data, shows that the February total included import permit tonnage of 1,991,000 net tons for finished steel, down 3% from the preliminary imports total of 2,060,000 net tons in January. The report also indicates that through the first two months of 2012, finished steel imports were 4.1 million net tons, up 29% vs. the 3.1 million net tons in the same period last year.
February 2012 total steel import permit tons would annualize at 30,574,000 net tons, up 7% vs. 28,515,000 net tons imported in 2011. February 2012 finished steel import permit tons would annualize at 24,306,000 net tons, up 11% vs. 21,835,000 net tons of finished steel imported in 2011. The estimated finished steel import market share in February was 23%.
In February, the largest finished steel import permit applications for offshore countries were for Korea (276,000 net tons, down 12% from January), Japan (157,000 net tons, up 23%), Turkey (145,000 net tons, up 2%), China (80,000 net tons, down 20%) and Germany (67,000 net tons, down 38%).
For the year to date, several key products are experiencing elevated import levels vs. their 2011 annual average, including
· Reinforcing bar (up 90% vs. 2011 monthly average)
· Bar-size light shapes (up 84%)
· Sheets and strip, all other metallic coated (up 35%)
· Hot-dip galvanized sheets and strip (up 18%).
Finished steel import permits for products that registered large increases in February vs. the January preliminary include wire rods (up 92%), hot-dip galvanized sheets and strip (up 46%), plates in coils (up 43%), and hot rolled sheets (up 9%).
“The most striking thing about the 2012 import data through two months is that finished steel imports are running a full million tons ahead of where they were through the first two months of last year,” said AISI president and CEO Thomas J. Gibson, commenting on the February 2012 SIMA data. “There are some significant volume increases in imports of a number of key long and flat products -- most noticeably, in rebar, bar-size light shapes and hot-dip galvanized sheets and strip. Such sudden and dramatic increases in imports will have adverse effects on U.S. producers.”
“The most striking thing about the 2012 import data through two months is that finished steel imports are running a full million tons ahead of where they were through the first two months of last year,” said AISI president and CEO Thomas J. Gibson, commenting on the February 2012 SIMA data. “There are some significant volume increases in imports of a number of key long and flat products -- most noticeably, in rebar, bar-size light shapes and hot-dip galvanized sheets and strip. Such sudden and dramatic increases in imports will have adverse effects on U.S. producers.”
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 development and application of new steels and steelmaking technology. The Institute comprises 25 member companies, including integrated and electric furnace steelmakers, and 124 associate and affiliate members who are suppliers to or customers of the steel industry.
