AISI Forecasts 6% Slump in US Finished Steel Imports During 2018

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): Based on the import trends during the initial month of the current year, the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) has forecast decline in imports in finished steel products by the US in 2018. The imports are likely to decline by 5.5% year-on-year, falling below 30 million net tons (NT) during the year.

As per data, finished steel imports by the country are likely to total 27.925 million NT, down by 5.5% when matched with the yearly import total of 29.561 million NT in 2017. The annualized imports of total steel are expected to decline by nearly 9.5% from 38.126 Mt in 2017 to 34.502 Mt in 2018.

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The imports of finished steel mill products from Brazil, Japan and Taiwan are likely to report strong growth during the current year. AISI forecasts 24.4% year-on-year growth in finished steel imports from Brazil. The import volumes from Japan and Taiwan are likely to report strong growth of 12.9% each. The other countries likely to witness growth in finished steel exports to the US are South Korea (+8.4%), Vietnam (+6.4%) and China (+5.9%). On the other hand, imports from Turkey and Germany are likely to decline sharply by 23.6% and 22.9% respectively.

Among various steel mill products, Oil Country Goods are likely to report biggest jump in import volumes. The imports are projected to surge higher by nearly 31% from 3.416 Mt in 2017 to 4.470 million NT this year. The imports of Hot rolled sheets are likely to increase by nearly 10% during the year. On the other hand, imports of Wire Rods are likely to decline the most in 2018 upon comparison with the previous year, falling by nearly 45% from 1.581Mt in 2017 to as low as 872,521 net tons in 2018. The other products that may witness drop in import volumes during the year are Reinforcing Bars (-26.6%) and Cold Rolled Sheets (-24.9%).