On Wednesday, the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) reported that based on the US Department of Commerce's most recent Steel Import Monitoring and Analysis (SIMA) data, steel import permit applications for the month of September totaled 2,550,000 net tons (nt). This was a 3 percent decrease from the 2,638,000 permit tons recorded in August, but an increase of 3 percent from the August preliminary imports total of 2,475,000 nt. Import permit tonnage for finished steel in September was 1,947,000 nt, up 1 percent from the preliminary imports total of 1,929,000 nt in August. September 2012 total and finished steel import permit tons would annualize at 33,911,000 nt and 26,270,000 nt, up 19 percent and 22 percent, respectively, versus the 28,515,000 nt and 21,835,000 nt imported in 2011. The estimated finished steel import market share in September was 23 percent, and it is 24 percent through the first nine months of 2012.
Even as overall import tons moderated in September, imports for a number of products increased.
Finished steel imports with large increases in September permits compared with the August preliminary include hot rolled sheets (up 20 percent); standard rails (up 352 percent); plates-in-coils (up 27 percent); sheets & strip all other metallic coatings (up 48 percent); wire rods (up 21 percent); and standard pipe (up 18 percent). Major products with significant year-to-date (YTD) increases versus the same period in 2011 include reinforcing bars (up 51 percent); line pipe (up 36 percent); sheets & strip galvanized hot dipped (up 32 percent); cut lengths plates (up 32 percent); oil country goods (up 29 percent); and hot rolled bars (up 17 percent).
In September, the largest finished steel import permit applications for offshore countries were for South Korea (303,000 nt and up 36 percent from August); Japan (161,000 nt and up 20 percent); Germany (113,000 nt and up 19 percent); China (94,000 nt and down 68 percent); and Taiwan (73,000 nt and up 44 percent). Through the first nine months of 2012, the largest offshore suppliers were South Korea (2,734,000 nt and up 23 percent from the same period in 2011); Japan (1,489,000 nt and up 34 percent); and China (1,177,000 nt and up 24 percent).