U.S. steel import permit applications declined in January

The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) has released the January steel import permit applications based on data from the U.S. Department of Commerce's Steel Import Monitoring and Analysis (SIMA).

According to this, the total steel import permit applications in January amounted to 1,568,000 net tons (NT). This figure indicates a 6.4% decrease compared to 1,675,000 NT recorded in December, and a 0.6% decline compared to the final import total of 1,577,000 NT in December.

In January, the import permit tonnage for finished steel was recorded at 1,216,000 NT. This represents a 4.8% increase compared to the final finished steel import total of 1,160,000 NT in December. During the same period, finished steel imports' share of the U.S. market was estimated to be 15%.

When broken down by product groups, significant increases were observed in January permit applications compared to the final December imports. Import of all other metallic coated sheets and strips increased by 47%, while rebar imports rose by 44%. Cold-rolled sheets saw an increase of 43%, hot-rolled sheets increased by 28%, and standard pipes rose by 22%.