The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) has reported that steel import permit applications for the month of November 2022 totalled 2.1Mt (all quantities in this story are net tons). This was a 9.6% decrease from the 2.3Mt recorded in October and a 12.6% decrease from the October final imports total of 2.4Mt.
All figures are based on the Commerce Department’s most recent Steel Import Monitoring and Analysis (SIMA) data.
Import permit tonnage for finished steel in November was 1.89Mt, down 3.9% from the final imports total of 1.96Mt in October.
For the first 11 months of 2022 (including November SIMA permits and October final imports), total and finished steel imports were 28.7Mt and 23.5Mt, up 0.6% and 14.7%, respectively, from the same period in 2021. The estimated finished steel import market share in November was 23% and is 24% year-to-date (YTD).
Steel imports with large increases in November permits versus October final imports include pressure tubing (up 99%), oil country goods (up 50%), tin-free steel (up 44%), hot rolled bars (up 21%) and plates in coils (up 21%). Products with significant YTD increases versus the same period in 2021 include standard pipe (up 51%), line pipe (up 50%), oil country goods (up 45%), heavy structural shapes (up 41%) and wire rods (up 37%).
In November, the largest steel import permit applications were for Canada (561kt, down 11% from October final), Mexico (422kt, down 38%), South Korea (202kt, up 13%), Brazil (202kt, down 22%) and Germany (108kt, up 37%). Through the first 11 months of 2022, the largest suppliers were Canada (6.3Mt, down 2%), Mexico (4.8Mt, up 16%) and South Korea (2.6Mt, up 7%).