AISI Anticipates Notable Dip in Imported Finished Steel

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) forecasts significant decline in imports of finished steel by the country during the current year.

The country is likely to witness 21.7% decline in finished steel imports in the entire year 2020. As per estimates, the full-year finished imports are likely to total 16.489 million net tons during this year. The U.S. finished imports had totalled 21.051 million net tons in the whole of 2019. Meantime, the total steel imports are likely to see a decline of 15.8% from 27.937 million net tons in 2019 to 23.528 million net tons during this year, AISI said.

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The AISI foresees modest to sharp decline in import volumes of majority of steel mill products during the year, barring a few. The imports of line pipes are likely to decline the most, falling by more than 59% from the previous year. The imports of oil country goods and plates in coils are likely to drop by 48.1% and 30.3% respectively.

Ingots and Billets and Slabs, Sheets and Strip All Other Metalic and Reinforcing Bars are likely to be the only products to see increased volume of imports in 2020, compared with 2019. The imports of Reinforcing Bars are forecast to see the biggest surge, rising by 5.6% from the previous year.

The imports of finished steel mill products from Turkey are likely to surge higher by 73.9% in 2020. On the contrary, AISI forecasts contraction in finished imports from Japan and Germany by almost 37% and 33% respectively.