AISI: US Preliminary Steel Imports Declined 10% in September

By Paul Ploumis

October 27, 2016 02:50:54 AM

ALBANY (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 2,744,672 net tons (NT) of steel in September 2016, including 2,108,403 net tons (NT) of finished steel (down 10.2% and 11.2%, respectively, vs. August final data).

Year-to-date total and finished steel imports are 24,773,393 and 19,775,754 net tons (NT), down 19.8% and 21.5% respectively, vs. the same period in 2015. Finished steel import market share was estimated at 26% in September and at 25% during the initial nine-month period of the year.

Key finished steel products with a significant import increase in September this year when compared to August are sheets and strip all other metallic coatings (up 13%).

The preliminary imports of sheets and strip all other metallic coatings totaled 107,717 NT in September, significantly higher by 12.7% when compared with the final imports of 95,592 NT in August. Structural Pipe & Tubing imports totaled 41,245 NT in September, higher by 6% when matched with 38,923 NT in August. The other product category that witnessed considerable jump in import volume was Galvanized Hot Dipped Sheets & Strip. The imports were up by 3% month-on-month from 257,003 NT in August to 264,794 NT in September this year.

On the other hand, the imports of Line Pipes witnessed sharp decline over the month in September 2016. The imports dropped by 46.1% from 123,590 NT in August to 66,649 NT in September. Reinforcing bars too witnessed 25.1% decline in import volume over the previous month. The imports totaled 167,275 NT in September this year as compared with the imports of 223,383 NT during the prior month. The imports of Hot Rolled bars dropped by nearly 24.7% from 109,511 NT to 72,491 NT.

The key finished steel imports during the nine-month period from January to September this year were Ingots, Billets and Slabs (4,974,359 NT), Hot Rolled Sheets (2,330,778 NT) and Sheets and Strip Galvanized Hot Dipped (2,207,359 NT).

In September, the largest exporters of finished steel to the US were South Korea (283,000 NT, down 16% from August final), Turkey (159,000 NT, down 12%), Japan (149,000 NT, down 30%), Germany (110,000 NT, down 15%), Taiwan (103,000 NT, down 28%), China (98,000 NT, up 54%) and Vietnam (98,000 NT, down 22%).

For first nine months of 2016, the largest overseas suppliers of finished steel to the US were South Korea (2, 992,000 NT, down 24% vs. the same period in 2015), Turkey (1,853,000 NT, down 15%), Japan (1,428,000 NT, down 21%), Germany (941,000 NT, down 23%), Taiwan (755,000 NT, down 22%), China (676,000 NT, down 68%) and Vietnam (672,000 NT, up 391%)

The estimated annualized finished steel imports for the whole year 2016 from various offshore countries are as follows:- South Korea (3,990,000 NT, down 17.8% vs 2015), Turkey (2,471,000 NT, down 12.4%), Japan (1,904,000 NT, down 15.7%), Germany (1,254,000 NT, down 17.2%) and Taiwan (1,007,000 NT, down 16.4%).

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 the development and application of new steels and steelmaking technology. AISI is comprised of 19 member companies, including integrated and electric furnace steelmakers, and approximately 125 associate members who are suppliers to or customers of the steel industry.