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 Wednesday that steel import permit applications during August totaled 2,591,000 net tons (nt). This was an 8 percent decrease from the 2,824,000 permit tons recorded in July but only a 0.3 percent increase from the July preliminary imports total of 2,582,000 nt. Import permit tonnage for finished steel in August was 2,004,000 nt, down 1 percent from the preliminary imports total of 2,028,000 nt in July. August 2012 total and finished steel import permit tons would annualize at 34,207,000 nt and 26,456,000 nt, up 20 percent and 21 perecnt, respectively, versus the 28,515,000 nt and 21,835,000 nt imported in 2011. The estimated finished steel import market share in August was 22 percent, and it is 24 percent through the first eight months of 2012.
Finished steel imports with large increases in August permits versus the July preliminary include: heavy structural shapes (up 66 percent); reinforcing bars (up 64 percent); cut lengths plates (up 28 percent); tin plate (up 27 percent); hot rolled bars (up 22 percent) and cold rolled sheets (up 18 percent). Major products with significant year-to-date increases compared to the same period in 2011 include reinforcing bars (up 49 percent); line pipe (up 42 percent); cut lengths plates (up 38 percent); oil country goods (up 33 percent); sheets & strip galvanized hot dipped (up 31 percent); sheets and strip all other metallic coatings (up 29 percent) and hot rolled bars (up 17 percent).
In August, the largest finished steel import permit applications for offshore countries were for South Korea (279,000 nt and down 2 percent from July); China (158,000 nt and up 36 percent); Japan (138,000 nt and down 18 percent); Turkey (116,000 nt and 240 percent); and Germany (93,000 nt and up 7 percent); Through the first eight months of 2012, the largest offshore suppliers were South Korea (2,450,000 nt and up 22 percent from the same period in 2011), Japan (1,309,000 nt and up 32 percent) and China (1,081,000 nt and up 29 percent).