WASHINGTON (Scrap Register): Based on the Commerce Department’s most recent Steel Import Monitoring and Analysis (SIMA) data, the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) reported that steel import permit applications for the month of July totaled 2,007,000 net tons (NT). This was a 20.5% increase from the 1,666,000 permit tons recorded in June and a 44.2% increase from the June preliminary imports total of 1,391,000.

Import permit tonnage for finished steel in July was 1,219,000, down 6.9% from the preliminary imports total of 1,310,000 in June. For the first seven months of 2020 (including July SIMA permits and June preliminary imports), total and finished steel imports were 14,394,000 NT and 9,852,000 NT, down 22.9% and 27.2%, respectively, from the same period in 2019. The estimated finished steel import market share in July was 19% and is 19% year-to-date (YTD).

Finished steel imports with large increases in July permits vs. the June preliminary imports included reinforcing bars (up 71%), tin plate (up 49%), tin free steel (up 48%) and heavy structural shapes (up 32%). Products with significant year-to date (YTD) increases vs. the same period in 2019 include tin free steel (up 27%) and light shapes bars (up 14%).

In July, the largest finished steel import permit applications for offshore countries were for South Korea (144,000 NT, down 23% from June preliminary), Turkey (71,000 NT, up 141%), Japan (63,000 NT, up 4%), China (57,000 NT, up 45%) and The Netherlands (56,000 NT, up 62%). Through the first seven months of 2020, the largest offshore suppliers were South Korea (1,267,000 NT, down 22% from the same period last year), Japan (497,000 NT, down 39%) and Germany (421,000 NT, down 39%).