Posted on 02 Nov 2020
Figures released by the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) show that the USA imported a total of 1.25Mt of steel in September 2020 including 1.16Mt (NT) of finished steel, down 2.8% and 1.1% respectively, versus August final data. [All quantities in this article are net tonnes]
Through the first nine months of 2020, total and finished steel imports were 17.6Mt and 12.3Mt, down 21.9% and 26.7%, respectively, when compared with the same period in 2019. Annualized total and finished steel imports in 2020 would be 23.5MT and 16.5MT, down 15.8% and 21.7%, respectively, versus 2019 figures. Finished steel import market share was an estimated 16% in September and is estimated at 18% over the first nine months of 2020.
Key finished steel products with a significant increase in imports in September compared to August are heavy structural shapes (up 114%), hot rolled sheets (up 41%), plates in coils (up 28%), sheets and strip all other metallic coatings (up 19%), tin plate (up 11%) and sheets and strip hot dipped galvanized (up 10%).
In September the largest volumes of finished steel imports from offshore were from South Korea (124kt, up 11% from August final), Taiwan (58kt, up 73%), Japan (57kt, up 28%), Germany (52kt up 3%) and The Netherlands (33kt, down 10%). For the first nine months of 2020, the largest offshore suppliers were South Korea (1.51Mt, down 26% compared with the same period in 2019), Japan (586kt, down 42%), Germany (525kt, down 37%), Taiwan (463kt, down 37%) and Turkey (427kt, up 65%).
Source:Steel Times International
