Finished steel imports rise by 8 percent in January

Based on preliminary Census Bureau data, the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) reported that the United States imported a total of 2,048,000 net tons (NT) of steel in January, including 1,632,000 NT of finished steel (up 10 percent and 8 percent, respectively, from December final data). Finished steel import market share in January was an estimated 21 percent (same as in full-year 2010), up from 20 percent in December.

Key finished steel products with significant import increases in January 2011 compared to December are reinforcing bar (up 44 percent), wire rod (up 34 percent) and a variety of tubular products – including standard pipe, line pipe and oil country goods (up 38, 34 and 24 percent, respectively).

In January, the largest volumes of finished steel imports from offshore were from South Korea (213,000, up 9 percent), Japan (126,000 NT, up 23 percent), Germany (78,000 up 20 percent), Australia (74,000 NT, up 78 percent) and China (58,000, down 9 percent).