By Paul Ploumis 25 Jun 2015 Last updated at 03:27:52 GMT

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): Based on preliminary Census Bureau data, the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) reported today that the U.S. imported a total of 3,374,000 net tons (NT) of steel in May 2015, including 2,744,000net tons (NT) of finished steel (down 3.6% and 7.2%, respectively, vs. April final data).

Year-to-date (YTD) total and finished steel imports are 18,597,000 and 15,368,000 net tons (NT), respectively, up 6% and 20% respectively, vs. the same period in 2014. Finished steel import market share was an estimated 29% in May.

Key finished steel products with a significant import increase in May compared to April are tin plate (up 101%), sheets and strip galvanized hot dipped (up 17%), hot rolled bars (up 15%), cut lengths plates (up 13%), hot rolled sheets (up 12%) and standard pipe (up 11%).

The major products that recorded significant rise in import volumes year-to-date in comparison with the similar five-month period in 2014 are line pipe (up 67%), standard pipe (up 44%), reinforcing bars (up 38%), heavy structural shapes (up36%), cut lengths plates (up 36%), tin plate (up 32%), plates in coils (up 28%), cold rolled sheets (up 27%), sheets and strip galvanized hot dipped (up 26%) and hot rolled sheets (up 13%).

In May, the largest volumes of finished steel imports from offshore were from South Korea (355,000 NT, down 30% vs. April), China (302,000 NT, up 3%), Turkey (222,000 NT, down 3%), Japan (184,000 NT, down 19%) and Germany (131,000 NT, up 8%).

The largest offshore suppliers for the initial five-month period of the year were South Korea (2,745,000 NT, up 28%), Turkey (1,446,000 NT, up 90%), China (1,330,000 NT, up 3%), Japan (1,047,000 NT, up 23%) and Germany (675,000 NT, up 40%)

Courtesy: American Iron and Steel Institute