US Finished Steel Imports in Jan-Nov 2020 Shrink by 24% YoY
Based on the Commerce Department’s most recent Steel Import Monitoring and Analysis data, the American Iron and Steel Institute has reported that steel import permit applications for the month of November totalled 1,408,000 net tons. This was a 17.2% decrease from the 1,699,000 permit tons recorded in October and a 6.7% decrease from the October final imports total of 1,509,000 net tons. Import permit tonnage for finished steel in November was 1,267,000 net tons, up 1.4% from the final imports total of 1,250,000 in October. For the first eleven months of 2020, total and finished steel imports were 20,564,000 net tons and 14,885,000 net tons, down 22.0% and 24.4%, respectively, from the same period in 2019. The estimated finished steel import market share in November was 18% and is 18% year-to-date.
Finished steel imports with large increases in November permits vs. the October final imports include tin plate up 86%, sheets and strip electrolytic galvanized up 83%, plates in coils up 49%, reinforcing bars up 34%, standard pipe up 23%, sheets and strip all other metallic coatings up 21% and light shapes bars up 21%. Products with significant year-to date increases vs the same period in 2019 include light shapes bars up 24% and tin free steel up 21%.
In November, the largest finished steel import permit applications for offshore countries were for South Korea 146,000 net tons, no change from October final, The Netherlands 82,000 net tons, up 194%, Germany 64,000 net tons, down 5%, Turkey 50,000 net tons, down 27% and China 39,000 net tons, up 22%. Through the first eleven months of 2020, the largest offshore suppliers were South Korea 1,812,000 net tons, down 25% from the same period last year, Japan 695,000 net tons, down 41% and Germany 656,000 net tons, down 32%.
The American Iron and Steel Institute also reported today that for the month of October 2020, US steel mills shipped 6,747,709 net tons, a 1.3 percent increase from the 6,662,904 net tons shipped in the previous month, September 2020, and a 14.7 percent decrease from the 7,914,276 net tons shipped in October 2019. Shipments year-to-date in 2020 is 67,197,068 net tons, a 16.5 percent decrease vs. 2019 shipments of 80,492,022 for ten months. A comparison of October shipments to the previous month of September shows the following changes: hot dipped galvanized sheet and strip, up 3 percent, cold rolled sheet, up three percent and hot rolled sheet, up two percent.
Source - Strategic Research Institute