US steel import permit applications rose 3% in May

Author: Paul Ploumis
04 Jun 2015 Last updated at 01:42:49 GMT
ALBANY (Scrap Monster): According to American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI), the steel import permit applications totaled 3.432 million NT in May this year, 3% higher when compared with the previous month. The steel import permit applications had totaled 3.344 million NT during April ‘15.

Import permit tonnage for finished steel in May was 2.759 million NT, down 6% from the preliminary imports total of 2.938 million NT in April. For the first five months of 2015 (including May SIMA and April preliminary), total and finished steel imports were 18.636 million NT and 15.365 million NT, respectively, up 7% and 20% from the same period in 2014. The estimated finished steel import market share in May was 29%.

Finished steel products that witnessed huge rise in May permits when compared with April preliminary imports were: standard rail (up 142%), tin plate (up 98%), hot rolled sheets (up 23%), sheets and strip galvanized hot dipped (up 11%), cut lengths plates (up 11%) and hot rolled bars (up 10%).

The year-to-date permits that reported significant increases when compared with the same period a year ago were: line pipe (up 70%), standard pipe (up 42%), heavy structural shapes (up 41%), cut lengths plates (up 35%), reinforcing bars (up 31%), tin plate (up 31%), cold rolled sheets (up 27%), plates in coils (up 26%), sheets and strip galvanized hot dipped (up 24%), hot rolled sheets (up 15%) and sheets and strip all other metallic coatings (up 13%).

The countries that topped the list in terms of largest finished steel import permit applications in May this year were: South Korea (371,000 NT, down 27% from April preliminary, China (306,000 NT up 5%), Japan (203,000 NT, down 10%), Turkey (200,000, down 7%) and Germany (135,000 NT, up 12%).

The largest offshore suppliers during the initial five-month period of the year were: South Korea (2,760,000 NT, up 28% from the same period in 2014), Turkey (1,410,000 NT, up 85%) and China (1,334,000, up 4%).