U.S. Steel Imports End 2025 Lower Despite December Uptick: AISI

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): Based on the latest Steel Import Monitoring and Analysis (SIMA) data from the U.S. Commerce Department, the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) reported that steel import permit applications for December totaled 1.67 million net tons (NT).

This marked a marginal 0.8% decline from November’s permit volume of 1.684 million NT, but represented a 1.9% increase over the final November import total of 1.639 million NT. Finished steel import permits for December stood at 1.206 million NT, up sharply by 11.2% compared with November’s final imports of 1.085 million NT.

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For full year 2025, including December SIMA permits, total steel imports reached 25.334 million NT, while finished steel imports totaled 18.711 million NT. These figures reflect year-on-year declines of 12.2% and 16.8%, respectively, compared with 2024. The estimated finished steel import market share was 15% in December and averaged 18% for the full year.

December saw notable month-over-month permit increases for reinforcing bars, wire rods, plates in coils, heavy structural shapes, and hot-rolled bars. On a full-year basis, stainless pipe and tube, tin plate, line pipe, wire rods, and oil country goods recorded significant growth.