On Thursday, the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) reported that based on the Commerce Department's more recent Steel Import Monitoring and Analysis (SIMA) data, steel import permit applications for October totaled 2,700,000 net tons (nt), 3 percent higher than permit tons recorded for September and up 11 percent from the September preliminary imports total of 2,440,000 nt. Finished steel imports in October were 2,141,000 nt, 14 percent higher than preliminary imports in September. October 2012 total and finished steel import permit tons would annualize at 33,867,000 nt and 26,282,000 nt, up 19 percent and 20 percent, respectively, versus the 28,515,000 nt and 21,835,000 nt imported in 2011. The estimated finished steel import market share in October was 25 percent, and it is 24 percent through 10 months of 2012.
Finished steel imports with large increases in October permits compared with the September preliminary data include rebar (up 70 percent); heavy structural shapes (up 68 percent); line pipe (up 62 percent); standard rails (up 54 percent); hot rolled bars (up 22 percent); and sheets and strip galvanized hot dipped (up 16 percent). Major products with significant year-to-date increases versus the same period in 2011 include rebar (up 53 percent); line pipe (up 40 percent); sheets and strip galvanized hot dipped (up 35 percent); oil country goods (up 29 percent) and cut lengths plates (up 26 percent).
In October, the largest finished steel import permit applications for offshore countries were for South Korea (379,000 nt and up 28 percent from September); Japan (182,000 nt and up 13 percent); China (133,000 nt and up 44 percent); Germany (115,000 nt and up 15 percent); and Turkey (94,000 nt and up 136 percent). Through the first 10 months of 2012, the largest offshore suppliers were South Korea, Japan and China.