AISI Foresees Notable Decline in 2020 Finished Steel Imports

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The latest report published by the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) forecasts notable decline in finished steel imports by the country during the current year. Based on the import trend for the first quarterly period of the year, AISI predicts over 14% year-on-year decline in 2020, in comparison with 2019.

The U.S. finished steel imports are likely to total 18.030 million net tons in 2020, lower by 14.4% when compared with the imports of 21.051 million NT in 2019. Also, the total steel imports by the country are likely to witness a decline of over 8% from 27.937 million NT in 2019 to 25.641 million NT in 2019.

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Among various steel mill products, only Ingots and Billets and Slabs, Galvanized Hot Dipped Sheets and Strips and Reinforcing bars are likely to report surge in imported volume. The imports of all other categories are expected to record lower volumes. The AISI predicts that Line Pipes are likely to report sharpest decline, with imports falling by over 56% year-on-year. The imports of Oil Country Goods and Tin Plates are likely to fall by 30.7% and 25.2% respectively.

The imports of finished steel mill products from Turkey are likely to surge the most, by nearly 91%. The imports from Austria are likely to surge by 20%. On the contrary, imports from Germany, Japan and Taiwan are likely to record notable declines.