U.S. Steel Imports Reported Weak Start to 2020

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster):  The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) announced that the total steel imports by the U.S. were approximately 3.135 million net tons in January 2020. The imports were down by almost 10%, compared with the imports in January last year.

The finished steel imports totalled 1.633 million net tons, which is down by nearly one-third upon comparison with the finished steel imports in January 2019. The finished steel import market share was estimated at 17%.

The total finished steel imports surged higher by almost 98% from the prior month. Also, finished steel imports were up by 20.4% from December 2019.

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The largest offshore supplier of finished steel in the opening month of 2020 was South Korea. The imports from that country surged higher by 8% to around 182,000 net tons. In second place was Brazil, whose supplies totalled around 88,000 net tons. The imports from that country skyrocketed by 579% over the previous year. In third place was Japan with 76,000 net tons.

Imports of Ingots and Billets and Slabs reported biggest surge, increasing by over 561% in Jan ‘20, when compared with the prior month. Reinforcing Bars and All Other Metallic Sheets & Strips too witnessed substantial surge in import volumes. On the other hand, Plates in Coils and Tin Plates recorded sequential decline in import volumes.