Steel import permits down 11% month on month: AISI

USA. STEEL IMPORT PERMITS DECLINE 11% YEAR-TO-DATE FINISHED STEEL IMPORT MARKET SHARE 21%. 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 November totaled 1,386,000 net tons (NT). This was an 11% decrease from both the 1,561,000 permit tons recorded in October 2009 and the October preliminary imports total of 1,560,000 NT. Import permit tonnage for finished steel in November was 957,000 NT, which was a decrease of 19% from the October preliminary imports total of 1,177,000 NT. November 2009 total and finished steel import permit tons would annualize at 16,089,000 NT and 14,102,000 NT, down 50% and 46%, respectively, from the 31,927,000 NT and 25,956,000 NT imported in 2008 In November 2009, the largest finished steel import permit applications for offshore countries were for Korea (101,000 NT, down 1% from October), The Netherlands (70,000 NT, up 11%), China (61,000 NT, up 24%), Japan (54,000 NT, down 40%) and Italy (54,000 NT, up 14%). Finished steel import market share in November is estimated at 15% and at 21% year-to-date (YTD). While finished steel import permits in November were down overall, six finished product categories registered an increase.