AISI Recorded 17% Drop in Yearly Steel Imports

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster):  The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) announced that the total steel imports by the U.S. were approximately 1.553 million net tons in December 2019. The imports were down marginally by 0.5%, compared with the November 2019 final imports.

The finished steel imports during the month totalled 1.347 million net tons, higher by 1.2% upon comparison with the final finished steel imports during the prior month. The finished steel import market share was estimated at 15% during Dec ‘19.

For the full year 2019, the country recorded total and finished steel imports of 27.905 million net tons and 21.042 million net tons respectively. The yearly imports of total and finished steel reported sharp declines by 17.3% and 18.1% respectively, over the previous year.

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 The largest offshore suppliers of finished steel in 2019 were South Korea, Japan and Germany. The imports from all the above three top sources registered year-on-year declines in 2019, said U.S. Census Bureau data.

Almost all steel mill products reported substantial decline in imports over 2018. The imports of Hot Rolled Sheets recorded largest decline, falling by 27.6% in 2019, when compared with 2018. Other products to witness sharp decline in imports were Hot Rolled Bars and Plates in Coils, whose import volumes plunged by 26.5% and 26.2% respectively.