U.S. Steel Imports Spiked in April

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) announced that the total steel imports by the U.S. were 2.634 million net tons in April this year. This is based on the monthly imports data published by the U.S. Census Bureau. The imports were up by almost 14%, compared with the March 2021 final imports.

The finished steel imports during the month totalled 1.654 million net tons, significantly down by 7.6% upon comparison with the final finished steel imports during the prior month. The finished steel import market share was estimated at 18% during the month. The largest offshore suppliers of finished steel in April this year were South Korea, Japan and Turkey.

The imports of heavy structural shapes and plates in coils surged higher significantly in April, surging higher by nearly 72% and 35% respectively. The other finished steel product to witness notable volume jump was cut length plates, whose imports were up by 27% over the month before that, AISI said.

Through the initial four months of 2021, the country recorded total and finished steel imports of 9.263 million net tons and 6.117 million net tons respectively. The year-to-date imports of total steel were up marginally by 0.8%, whereas those of finished steel were up by 5.1%, compared to the same period in 2020.

The AISI estimates the annualized total and finished steel imports for the whole year 2021 at 27.788 million net tons and 18.351 million net tons respectively.