(American Iron and Steel Institute, www.steel.org – November 27, 2018) Based on final Census Bureau data, the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) reported today that the U.S. imported a total of 2,385,000 net tons (NT) of steel in November 2018, including 1,921,000 net tons (NT) of finished steel (down 27.2% and 4.1%, respectively, vs. October final data).

Through the first 11 months of 2018, total and finished steel imports are 31,834,000 and 24,016,000 net tons (NT), down 10.8% and 13.2%, respectively, vs. the same period in 2017. Annualized total and finished steel imports in 2018 would be 34.7 and 26.2 million NT, down 8.9% and 11.4%, respectively, vs. 2017. Finished steel import market share was an estimated 21% in November and is estimated at 23% over the first 11 months of 2018. Key finished steel products with a significant import increase in November compared to October were heavy structural shapes (up 67%), wire rods (up 57%), sheets and strip all other metallic coatings (up 24%), and mechanical tubing (up 12%). Major products with significant year-to-date (YTD) increases vs. the same period in 2017 include hot rolled sheets (up 22%) and plates in coils (up 16%).In November the largest volumes of finished steel imports from offshore were from South Korea (195,000 NT, up 6% from October final), Germany (125,000 NT, up 10%), Vietnam (121,000 NT, up 5%), Japan (115,000 NT, up 8%) and Taiwan (100,000 NT, up 40%). For the first 11 months of 2018, the largest offshore suppliers were South Korea (2,674,000 NT, down 25% vs. the same period in 2017), Japan (1,286,000 NT, down 10%), Germany (1,225,000 NT, down 6%), Turkey (1,100,000 NT, down 48%) and Taiwan (1,016,000 NT, down 16%). Below are charts on estimated steel import market share in recent months and on finished steel imports from offshore by country.