Based on the US Department of Commerce's most recent Steel Import Monitoring and Analysis (SIMA) data, the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) reported Thursday that steel import permit applications for the month of December totaled 2,358,000 net tons (nt). This was a 10 percent decrease from the 2,615,000 permit tons recorded in November and down 11 percent from the November preliminary imports total of 2,659,000 nt. Import permit tonnage for finished steel in December was 1,629,000 nt, down 18 percent from the preliminary imports total of 1,988,000 nt in November. December 2012 total and finished steel import permit tons would annualize at 33,310,000 nt and 25,620,000 nt, up 17 percent each, respectively, versus the 28,515,000 nt and 21,835,000 nt imported in 2011. The estimated finished steel import market share in December was 22 percent, and it is 24 percent for full year 2012.
Finished steel imports with large increases in December permits compared to November preliminary totals include mechanical tubing (up 27 percent) and hot rolled sheets (up 16 percent). Major products with significant full year increases versus 2011 include rebar (up 48 percent); line pipe (up 39 percent); sheets and strip galvanized hot dipped (up 36 percent); oil country goods (up 23 percent); sheets and strip all other metallic coatings (up 22 percent) and cut lengths plates (up 18 percent).
In December, the largest finished steel import permit applications for offshore countries were for South Korea (167,000 nt and down 41 percent from November); China (158,000 nt and up 9 percent); Germany (120,000 nt and up 19 percent); Japan (83,000 nt and down 42 percent); and The Netherlands (77,000 nt and up 24 percent).
Through full year 2012, the largest offshore suppliers were South Korea (3,646,000 nt and up 29 percent from the same period in 2011); Japan (1,926,000 nt and up 30 percent); and China (1,627,000 nt and up 32 percent).
AISI President and CEO Thomas J. Gibson, said, "We will continue to stress that this significant import trend is largely the result of foreign government subsidies, currency manipulation, trade barriers and dumping. AISI continues to seek aggressive engagement by the US federal government to address this serious issue. If the import surge is left unchecked, the industry's recovery from the recession will be negatively impacted and will result in additional job loss throughout the steel supply chain."