Based on the Commerce Department’s most recent Steel Import Monitoring and Analysis data, the American Iron and Steel Institute reported that steel import permit applications for the month of June totaled 2,734,000 net tons. This was a 3% decrease from the 2,807,000 permit tons recorded in May and a 2% increase from the May preliminary imports total of 2,692,000 net tons. Import permit tonnage for finished steel in June was 2,109,000 net tons, up 15% from the preliminary imports total of 1,838,000 net tons in May.
Year to date 2011 total and finished steel import permit tons would annualize at 28,803,000 net tons and 21,767,000 net tons up 20% and 15%, respectively, vs. the 23,929,000 net tons and 18,857,000 net tons imported in 2010. The estimated finished steel import market share in June was 23%, and the year to date share increased to 22%.
In June, the largest finished steel import permit applications for offshore countries were
Korea 318,000 net tons up 49%
China 154,000 net tons up 29%
Japan 141,000 net tons up 8%
Russia 100,000 net tons up 102%
Turkey 94,000 net tons up 36%
Finished steel import permits for major products that registered increases in June vs. the May preliminary include sheet and strip all other metallic coated (up 90%), reinforcing bar (up 64%), cut length plates (up 40%), line pipe (up 24%), cold rolled sheets (up 22%), oil country goods (up 17%) and plates in coils (up 17%).
Mr Thomas J Gibson president and CEO of AISI stated that that “Finished steel imports were at their highest level in 2011, as China increased its market presence and became the second largest offshore supplier behind Korea. There were sharp increases in virtually every major category led by a 100,000 ton month over month increase in tubular products, and increases of approximately 50,000 tons each in plate, bar and sheet products. Taking plate as an example, June import tonnage was the highest since September 2008, due in part to significantly higher tonnages from offshore suppliers Russia and Korea. Domestic steelmakers remain concerned that significant volumes of dumped and subsidized imports could threaten the ongoing US steel market recovery.”
( Source: www.steelguru.com )