AISI Releases December SIMA Imports Data

Finished Import Market Share Estimated at 23 Percent in December

Washington, D.C. – Based on the Commerce Department’s most recent Steel Import Monitoring and Analysis (SIMA) data, the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) reported today that steel import permit applications for the month of December totaled 2,182,000 net tons (NT)*. This was a 1.9% increase from the 2,141,000 permit tons recorded in November and an 8.8% increase from the November preliminary imports total of 2,006,000. Import permit tonnage for finished steel in December was 1,850,000, up 5.2% from the preliminary imports total of 1,758,000 in November. For the full year of 2022 (including December SIMA permits and November preliminary imports), total and finished steel imports were 30,822,000 NT and 25,245,000 NT, down 2.0% and up 10.9%, respectively, from the same period in 2021. The estimated finished steel import market share in December was 23% and is 24% for the full year of 2022.

Steel imports with large increases in December permits vs. November preliminary imports include standard rail (up 182%), line pipe (up 70%), ingots and billets and slabs (up 34%), sheets and strip hot dipped galvanized (up 25%) and reinforcing bars (up 22%). Products with significant increases for the full year of 2022 vs 2021 include line pipe (up 47%), standard pipe (up 45%), oil country goods (up 43%), heavy structural shapes (up 37%) and wire rods (up 31%).

In December, the largest steel import permit applications were for Canada (494,000 NT, down 6% from November preliminary), Mexico (417,000 NT, up 66%), South Korea (203,000 NT, up 46%), Japan (139,000 NT, up 34%) and Germany (72,000 NT, down 39%). For the full year of 2022, the largest suppliers were Canada (6,830,000 NT, down 2%), Mexico (5,304,000 NT, up 11%) and South Korea (2,786,000 NT, up 1%).

*Note that import permits data are counts of tonnages requested in applications for licenses to import steel products and are not actual import volumes. For a number of reasons, permit tonnages may understate or overstate actual import volumes for the month, preliminary estimates of which will be available later this month

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Contact: Lisa Harrison

202.452.7115 / lharrison@steel.org

AISI serves as the voice of the American steel industry in the public policy arena and advances the case for steel in the marketplace as the preferred material of choice. AISI’s membership is comprised of integrated and electric arc furnace steelmakers, and associate members who are suppliers to or customers of the steel industry. For more news about steel and its applications, view AISI’s website at www.steel.org. Follow AISI on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter (@AISISteel) or Instagram.