AISI: U.S. Steel Import Permits Dipped in July

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) published most recent Steel Import Monitoring and Analysis (SIMA) data, which indicates notable decline in steel import permit applications during the month of July 2023.

Based on Commerce Department data, the permit applications totalled 2.266 million net tons in July this year. This is significantly lower by approximately 20% when matched with 2.832 million net tons permit tons recorded during the prior month. When compared with June 2023 final imports of 2.794 million net tons, the July 2023 steel import permit tonnage was down by 18.9%, AISI data said.

In July this year, the import permit tonnage for finished steel totalled 1.771 million net tons, down significantly by 11.2% from the final imports total of 1.994 million net tons in June this year.

Steel piling reported largest increase in July permits over the prior month, surging higher by 39%. The import permits for cold finished bars and stainless pipe and tubing were up by 26% and 24% respectively. The products with notable year-to-date increases compared with the similar seven-month period in 2022 include standard rails, electrical sheet and strip as well as oil country goods.

In July 2023, the largest finished steel import permit applications for offshore countries were for Canada. The largest offshore suppliers through the first seven months of the current year were Canada, Mexico and Brazil.