AISI Forecasts Notable Surge in Finished Steel Imports

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) forecasts modest jump in imports of finished steel by the country during the current year. The estimates provided by the association are based on the import trends during the initial four-month period of 2021.

The country is likely to witness 13.7% surge in finished steel imports in the entire year 2021. As per estimates, the full-year finished imports are likely to total 18.351 million net tons in 2021. The U.S. finished imports had totalled 16.139 million net tons in the whole of 2020. Meantime, the total steel imports are likely to witness a surge of 26.2% from 22.019 million net tons in 2020 to 27.787 million net tons during this year, AISI said.

The AISI foresees modest to sharp increase in import volumes of a large number of steel mill products during the year. The imports of ingots and billets and slabs are likely to register the biggest year-on-year surge, rising significantly by 60.5% from the previous year. The imports of cut length plates and hot rolled sheets are likely to increase by 51.4% and 42.2% respectively. On the other hand, the imports of tin plates are expected to decline significantly by 17.8% year-on-year in 2021, followed by standard pipes with 16.4% dip in import volumes.

The imports of finished steel mill products from Turkey are likely to surge higher by 41% in 2021. On the contrary, AISI forecasts nearly 13% contraction in finished imports from China during the year.