By Paul Ploumis (ScrapMonster Author)

March 03, 2016 02:13:14 AM

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): Based on the Commerce Department’s most recent Steel Import Monitoring and Analysis (SIMA) data, the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) reported today that steel import permit applications for the month of February this year totaled 2,283,000 net tons (NT). This was a sharp 20% decline from the 2,841,000 permit tons recorded in January this year and an 11% increase from the Jan ‘16 preliminary imports total of 2,577,000 NT.

Import permit tonnage for finished steel in February was 1,854,000 NT, down 16% from the preliminary imports total of 2,217,000 in January. The estimated finished steel import market share in February was 23% and is 25% year-to-date (YTD).

Finished steel imports with large increases in February permits vs. Jan ’16 preliminary included oil country goods (up 16%).

In February, the largest finished steel import permit applications for offshore countries were for South Korea (350,000 NT, up 46% from January preliminary), Turkey (159,000 NT down 35%), Japan (97,000 NT, down 48%), Vietnam (78,000, up 31%) and China (78,000 NT, down 14%).

Through the first two months of 2016, the largest offshore suppliers were South Korea (591,000 NT, down 55% from the same period in 2015), Turkey (403,000 NT, down 31%) and Japan (285,000, down 37%).

Courtesy: American Iron and Steel Institute