AISI SIMA Data Points to Notable Surge in Steel Import Permits

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) published most recent Steel Import Monitoring and Analysis (SIMA) data, which signals substantial rise in steel import permit applications in the month of March this year.

Based on Commerce Department data, the permit applications totalled 2.323 million net tons in March 2020. This is significantly higher by 24% when matched with 1.873 million net tons permit tons recorded in the prior month. When compared with February 2020 final imports of 1.510 million net tons, the March 2020 steel import permit tonnage was up by approximately 54%, AISI data said.

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In March, the import permit tonnage for finished steel totalled 1.544 million net tons, up by 14.6% from the final imports total of 1.348 million net tons in the month of February this year. Oil Country Goods reported largest increase in March permits over the prior month, surging higher by 101%. The import permits for line pipe too reported 66% surge.

The total steel imports during the initial three-month period of the current year stood at 6.983 million net tons, down by nearly 15% from the prior year. Meantime, finished steel imports in Jan-Mar ’20 were down sharply by 25% from the same period in 2019. Tin free steel imports reported 35% surge in year-to-date imports in 2020. The other product to report notable YTD increase was mechanical tubing, whose imports were up by 17% from Jan-Mar ’19.