(American Iron and Steel Institute, www.steel.org – March 6, 2019) Based on final Census Bureau data, the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) reported today that the U.S. imported a total of 1,898,000 net tons (NT) of steel in December 2018, including 1,679,000 net tons (NT) of finished steel (down 20.4% and 12.6%, respectively, vs. November final data).

For the full year of 2018, total and finished steel imports are 33,731,000 and 25,694,000 net tons (NT), down 11.5% and 13.1%, respectively, compared to full year 2017. Finished steel import market share was 19% in December and 23% for full year 2018. Key finished steel products with a significant import increase in December compared to November were heavy structural shapes (up 20%) and line pipe (up 12%). Major products with significant increases for full year 2018 vs. full year 2017 include hot rolled sheets (up 22%) and plates in coils (up 15%).In December the largest volumes of finished steel imports from offshore were from Germany (114,000 NT, down 9% from November final), Vietnam (100,000 NT, down 17%), South Korea (91,000 NT, down 53%), Japan (97,000 NT, down 16%) and Turkey (53,000 NT, down 10%). For full year 2018, the largest offshore suppliers were South Korea (2,764,000 NT, down 26% vs. full year 2017), Japan (1,383,000 NT, down 8%), Germany (1,339,000 NT, down 5%), Turkey (1,153,000 NT, down 47%) and Vietnam (1,110,000 NT, up 48%). Below are charts on estimated steel import market share in recent months and on finished steel imports from offshore by country.