Steel Products Prices North America

AISI: Finished Steel Imports Up 17.4% for the Year

August 27, 2021

Total steel imports into the United States jumped by more than 20% in the first seven months of the year, versus the same period in 2020, reported the American Iron and Steel Institute, based on preliminary Census data.

AISI Foreign steel, including billet and slabs, totaled 17.7 million net tons for a 20.6% year-over-year increase. Finished steel imports, at 12.1 million net tons, were up 17.4%

In July, the U.S. imported a total of 3.0 million tons, up 2.8% from June, Finished steel imports were up a slight 0.5% for the month.

Annualized, total steel imports could hit 30.4 million tons, while the finished steel portion could reach 20.7 million tons. That would represent increases of 38.0% and 28.4%, respectively, vs. 2020. Imports have captured an estimated 20% share of the U.S. market so far in 2021, AISI reported.

Key finished steel products seeing a significant increase in imports year-to-date include: hot rolled sheets (up 76%), plates in coils (up 52%), cut lengths plates (up 44%), sheets and strip all other metallic coatings (up 41%), wire rods (up 40%), wire drawn (up 22%), hot rolled bars (up 17%), heavy structural shapes (up 16%), tin plate (up 13%), sheets and strip hot dipped galvanized (up 12%) and cold rolled sheet (up 12%).

For the first seven months of 2021, the largest offshore suppliers were South Korea (1,624,000 tons, up 27%), Japan (590,000 tons, up 22%), Turkey (485,000 tons, up 29%), Germany (480,000 tons, up 14%) and Taiwan (434,000 tons, up 17%).

Tim Triplett, Tim@SteelMarketUpdate.com