[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 February totaled 1,945,000 net tons (NT)*.  This was a 12.3% decrease from the 2,218,000 permit tons recorded in January and a 19.7% decrease from the January preliminary imports total of 2,422,000.  Import permit tonnage for finished steel in February was 1,387,000, up 11.9% from the preliminary imports total of 1,239,000 in January.  For the first two months of 2021 (including February SIMA permits and January preliminary imports), total and finished steel imports were 4,367,000 NT and 2,626,000 NT, down 6.3% and 12.4%, respectively, from the same period in 2020.  The estimated finished steel import market share in February was 18% and is 16% year-to-date (YTD).

 

Finished steel imports with large increases in February permits vs. the January preliminary imports include tin plate (up 213%), sheets and strip electrolytic galvanized (up 151%), cold rolled sheets (up 71%), tin free steel (up 55%), hot rolled sheets (up 43%), cut lengths plates (up 34%), line pipe (up 30%), mechanical tubing (up 19%) and wire rods (up 15%).  Products with significant year-to date (YTD) increases vs. the same period in 2020 include tin plate (up 22%), steel piling (up 81%) and sheets and strip electrolytic galvanized (up 69%).

 

In February, the largest finished steel import permit applications for offshore countries were for South Korea (216,000 NT, up 64% from January preliminary), Japan (91,000 NT, up 97%), Germany (82,000 NT, up 251%), Turkey (77,000 NT, down 6%) and The Netherlands (38,000 NT, up 841%).  Through the first two months of 2021, the largest offshore suppliers were South Korea (347,000 NT, up 2% from the same period last year), Japan (137,000 NT, down 6%) and Turkey (158,000 NT, up 28%).

 

*Note that import permits data are counts of tonnages requested in applications for licenses to import steel mill products and are not actual import volumes. For a number of reasons, permit tonnages may understate or overstate actual import volumes for the month, preliminary estimates of which will be available later this month.  

 

Source: AISI