AISI Forecasts 17% Contraction in Finished Steel Imports

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster):  The latest report published by the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) forecasts significant decline in finished steel imports by the country during the current year. Based on the steel import data for the first four months of the year, AISI estimates that finished steel imports by the country are likely to drop by nearly 17% in 2020, compared to the previous year.

The U.S. finished steel imports are likely to total 17.456 million net tons in 2020, down by 17.1% when compared with the imports of 21.051 million NT in the whole of 2019. Also, the total steel imports by the country are likely to witness marginal decline by almost 1.4% from 27.937 million NT in 2019 to 27.556 million NT in 2020.

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Among various steel mill products, only Ingots and Billets and Slabs, Mechanical Tubing and Reinforcing bars are likely to report year-on-year surge in imported volume. The AISI predicts that Line Pipes are likely to report sharpest decline, with imports expected to fall by approximately 57% year-on-year. The imports of Oil Country Goods and Tin Plates are likely to dip by 36.0% and 21.0% respectively.

Turkey will further consolidate its position as the top supplier of finished steel mill products to the U.S. The imports from that country are forecast to surge higher by 91.2% over the year. Imports from Brazil are projected to rise by 18%. Meantime, Vietnam will see its supplies shrink by nearly 52% compared with 2019.