[All quantities in this article are net tons]
The USA imported a total of 1.8Mt tons of steel in February 2021, including 1.4Mt of finished steel (down 22.0% and up 15%, respectively compared with January final data).
Through the first two months of 2021, total and finished steel imports were 4.3Mt and 2.6Mt, down 7.5% and 11.1%, respectively when compared with the same period in 2020. Annualized total and finished steel imports in 2021 would be 25.9Mt and 16Mt, up 17.4% and down 1%, respectively, versus last year. Finished steel import market share was an estimated 18% in February and is estimated at 17% over the first two months of 2021.
Key finished steel products with a significant increase in imports in February compared to January are tin plate (up 158%), cold rolled sheets (up 69%), hot rolled sheets (up 63%), line pipe (up 38%), mechanical tubing (up 19%) and wire rods (up 17%). A product with a significant year-to-date increase versus the same period in 2020 was structural pipe and tubing (up 13%).
In February, the largest volumes of finished steel imports from offshore were from South Korea (231kt, up 75% from January final), Turkey (77kt, down 6%), Japan (76kt, up 65%), Germany (65kt, up 180%) and Brazil (33kt, down 20%). For the first two months of 2021, the largest offshore suppliers were South Korea (362kt, up 6% versus the same period in 2020), Turkey (158kt, up 28%), Japan (123kt, down 16%), Germany (88kt, down 12%) and Brazil (75,kt, down 41%).
Source: American Iron and Steel Institute, based on preliminary Census Bureau data.