Steel import permits down 11 percent for November 2010

Based on the Commerce Department’s most recent Steel Import Monitoring and Analysis (SIMA) data, the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) reported that steel import permit applications for the month of November totaled 1,672,000 net tons (NT).

This was an 11 percent decrease from the 1,870,000 permit tons recorded in October and a 7 percent decrease from the October preliminary imports total of 1,791,000 NT. Import permit tonnage for finished steel in November was 1,442,000 NT, down 3 percent from the preliminary imports total of 1,489,000 NT in October. November total and finished steel import permit tons would annualize at 23,832,000 NT and 18,763,000 NT, up 47 percent and 32 percent, respectively, from the 16,215,000 NT and 14,179,000 NT imported in 2009.

In November, the largest finished steel import permit applications for offshore countries were for Korea (182,000 NT, down 1 percent from October), The Netherlands (88,000 NT, up 122 percent), Japan (87,000 NT, down 16 percent), China (67,000 NT, up 29 percent) and Germany (66,000 NT, down 16 percent). Finished steel import market shares in November and year-to-date are 19 percent and 21 percent, respectively.

Finished steel import permits for major products that registered significant increases in November vs. the October preliminary include hot rolled sheets (up 23 percent), plates in coils (up 16 percent) and tin plate (up 15 percent).