[Ferro-Alloys.com] Based on the Commerce Department’s most recent Steel Import Monitoring and Analysis (SIMA) data, the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) reported today that steel import permit applications for the month of June totaled 2,695,000 net tons (NT)*. This was a 2.3% increase from the 2,633,000 permit tons recorded in May and a 30.7% increase from the May preliminary imports total of 2,062,000. Import permit tonnage for finished steel in June was 1,786,000, down 3.6% from the preliminary imports total of 1,853,000 in May. For the first six months of 2019 (including June SIMA permits and May preliminary imports), total and finished steel imports were 16,279,000 NT and 11,739,000 NT, down 9.0% and 16.2%, respectively, from the same period in 2018. The estimated finished steel import market share in June was 19% and is 21% year-to-date (YTD).

Finished steel imports with large increases in June permits vs. May preliminary imports included black plate (up 540%), pressure tubing (up 199%), steel piling (up 120%), tin plate (up 50%), tin free steel (up 48%), mechanical tubing (up 27%), line pipe (up 13%) and wire rods (up 10%). A product with a significant year-to-date (YTD) increase vs. the same period in 2018 was black plate (up 75%).

In June, the largest finished steel import permit applications for offshore countries were for South Korea (166,000 NT, down 43% from May preliminary), Japan (117,000 NT, down 5%), Germany (87,000 NT, up 36%), Taiwan (85,000 NT, up 5%) and Vietnam (65,000 NT, up 7%). Through the first six months of 2019, the largest offshore suppliers were South Korea (1,453,000 NT, down 17% from the same period last year), Japan (728,000 NT, down 2) and Germany (604,000 NT, down 9%).

(AISI)

• [Editor:kangmingfei]