Total and finished steel import permits to the US in January decreased compared with the previous month, according to the America Iron and Steel Institute (AISI).
Citing figures from the latest Steel Import Monitoring and Analysis (SIMA) data released by the US Department of Commerce, AISI indicated that total steel import permits in January totaled 2.13mn nt (1.93mn mt), down 0.1pc from 2.13mn nt worth of permits in the previous month and up 42.4pc from December’s preliminary imports of 1.49mn nt.
Finished steel permits fell by 10.3pc in January to 1.2mn nt compared with preliminary steel imports of 1.34mn nt in December.
The most sought-after finished steel imports in January, compared with the previous month include heavy structural shapes, up 105pc; reinforcing bars, up 82pc; light shapes bars, up 23pc; and structural pipe and tubing, up 15pc.
In January, South Korea remained the most sought-after destination for finished steel imports, though they were down 48pc to 125,000nt compared with December, followed by Turkey, up 451pc to 75,000nt; Japan, down 11pc to 52,000nt; Brazil down 18pc to 40,000nt; and Taiwan, down 23pc to 30,000nt.
The finished steel import market share in January was estimated at 16pc.