Steel import permits on rise

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 January totaled 1,537,000 net tons (NT). This was a 12 percent increase from the 1,377,000 permit tons recorded in December 2009 and a 10 percent increase from the December preliminary imports total of 1,396,000 NT.

Import permit tonnage for finished steel in January was 1,179,000 NT, which was an increase of 6 percent from the preliminary imports total of 1,119,000 NT in December. January 2010 total and finished steel import permit tons would annualize at 18,447,000 NT and 14,153,000 NT, up 14 percent and down 0.1 percent, respectively, from the 16,201,000 NT and 14,165,000 NT imported in 2009

In January 2010, the largest finished steel import permit applications for offshore countries were for Korea (139,000 NT, up 34 percent from December), Japan (95,000 NT, down 7 percent), China (68,000 NT, up 45 percent), Italy (52,000 NT, up 5 percent) and The United Kingdom (39,000 NT, up 97 percent). Finished steel import market share in January is estimated at 17 percent

Finished steel import permits for major product categories that registered significant increases in January vs. the December 2009 preliminary include oil tubular country goods (up 97 percent), standard rails (up 77 percent), heavy structural shapes (up 44 percent), line pipe (32 percent) and standard pipe (up 16 percent).