U.S. Finished Steel Imports Plummeted by a Third

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The latest report published by the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) indicates notable decline in finished steel imports by the country during the year-to-date period in 2020.

The U.S. finished steel imports, at 1.633 million net tons in the first month of 2020, is significantly lower by 33.4% when compared with the imports of 2.451 million NT in YTD 2019. Also, the total steel imports by the country recorded decline by almost 10%, falling from 3.480 million NT in YTD 2019 to 3.135 million NT in YTD this year.

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Among various steel mill products, only Ingots and Billets and Slabs reported notable surge in imported volume, edging higher by 46% year-on-year. The imports of Mechanical Tubing too were up marginally by 4.2% from the previous year.

The imports of all other categories reported significantly lower volumes. The AISI report suggests that imports of Line Pipes dropped the most, recording year-on-year decline by nearly 78.1%. The Oil Country Goods imports plunged by 62.1%, whereas the wire rod imports were down by 45.8%.

The imports of finished steel mill products from Spain stood higher by 27.8% in the opening month of 2020. The largest year-on-year decline in imports of 63.9% was from Germany. Taiwan and South Korea reported import declines by 59.1% and 49.6% respectively.