STEEL IMPORTS UP 20% YEAR-TO-DATE
time2017/10/30
STEEL IMPORTS UP 20% YEAR-TO-DATE -Finished Import Market Share YTD at 28%
Based on preliminary Census Bureau data, the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) reported today that the U.S. imported a total of 3,051,000 net tons (NT) of steel in September 2017, including 2,438,000 net tons (NT) of finished steel (down 10.3% and 1.4%, respectively, vs. August final data). Year-to-date (YTD) through nine months of 2017, total and finished steel imports are 29,663,000 and 22,890,000 net tons (NT), up 19.6% and 15.7%, respectively, vs. the same period in 2016. Annualized total and finished steel imports in 2017 would be 39.6 and 30.5 million NT, up 19.8% and 15.9%, respectively, vs. 2016. Finished steel import market share was an estimated 27% in September and is estimated at 28% YTD.
Key finished steel products with significant import increases in September compared to August include reinforcing bars (up 85%), line pipe (up 35%), tin plate (up 31%), oil country goods (up 23%) and plates in coils (up 11%). Major products with significant year-to-date (YTD) increases vs. the same period in 2016 include oil country goods (up 255%), line pipe (up 60%), standard pipe (up 45%), mechanical tubing (up 32%), cold rolled (up 28%), sheets and strip all other metallic coatings (up 26%), sheets and strip hot dipped galvanized (up 22%) and hot rolled bars (up 19%).
In September, the largest volumes of finished steel imports from offshore were from South Korea (321,000 NT, down 11% from August final), Japan (169,000 NT, up 32%), Germany (151,000 NT, up 53%), Taiwan (120,000 NT, down 2%) and Turkey (112,000 NT, up 5%). For the first nine months of 2017, the largest offshore suppliers were South Korea (2,949,000 NT, down 2% vs. the same period in 2016), Turkey (1,944,000 NT, up 5%), Japan (1,234,000 NT, down 14%), Taiwan (1,026,000 NT, up 36%) and Germany (1,001,000 NT, up 6%). Below are charts on estimated steel import market share in recent months and on finished steel imports from offshore by country.
