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 March total 2,541,000 net tons (NT). This was a 3% decrease from the 2,609,000 permit tons recorded in February but up by 4% from the February preliminary imports total of 2,441,000 NT. Import permit tonnage for finished steel in March was 2,012,000, up 11% from the preliminary imports total of 1,819,000 in February. The estimated finished steel import market share in March was 23%.
Finished steel imports with large increases in March permits vs. the February preliminary included reinforcing bars (up 50%), oil country goods (up 33%), sheets and strip all other metallic coatings (up 30%), hot rolled bars (up 18%), line pipe (up 17%) and hot rolled sheets (up 16%). Major products with significant year-to-date (YTD) increases vs. the same period in 2012 include sheets and strip galvanized electrolytic (up 50%), steel piling (up 40%), cold rolled strip (up 30%) and sheets and strip galvanized hot dipped (up 21%).