Posted on 02 Mar 2021
The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) announced that the total steel imports by the U.S. were 2.422 million net tons in January this year. This is based on the monthly imports data published by the U.S. Census Bureau. The imports were down by almost 23.1%, compared with the same month a year before.
The finished steel imports during the month totalled 1.239 million net tons, significantly down by 24.8% upon comparison with the final finished steel imports in January 2020. The finished steel imports were down by 7.5% from the prior month. The finished steel import market share was estimated at 15% during the month.
The imports of Ingots and Billets and Slabs recorded the biggest surge in January, rising by nearly 142% from the prior year. The other finished steel product to witness notable volume jump was Heavy Structural Shapes wire rods, whose imports were up by 29.4% over the prior year. Also, Plates in Coils reported 23.6% surge in imports during the month, AISI data said.
On the other hand, the imports of Tin Plates collapsed by 58.3%. AISI reported significant dip in imports of Line Pipes (-37.8%) and Cold Rolled Sheets (34.1%).
The AISI estimates the annualized total and finished steel imports for the whole year 2021 at 22.019 million net tons and 16.139 million net tons respectively.
Source:Scrap Monster
