U.S. Steel Import Permits Witnessed 48% Dip

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The most recent report published by the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) suggests substantial decline in steel import permit applications during the month of February this year.

Based on the Steel Import Monitoring and Analysis (SIMA) data published by the Department of Commerce, the permits reported decline by 47.5% month-on-month from 3.470 million net tons (NT) in January 2020 to 1.823 million NT in February. Upon comparison with January preliminary imports, the permit applications were down by almost 42%.

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The overall steel imports by the country during the initial two-month period of the year totalled 4.958 million NT, out of which finished steel accounted for 2.991 million NT. When compared with the corresponding two-month period in 2019, the total and finished steel imports were down significantly by 16.1% and 28.7% respectively.

The import permits of heavy structural shapes increased by 45%. The other products to report large increases were tin plates, whose permits were up by 20%. In February 2020, the largest permit applications for offshore countries were for South Korea, followed by Turkey and Germany.

The year-to-date imports of tin free steel and mechanical tubing surged higher by 69% and 11% respectively.