April Releases SIMA Imports Data

Finished Import Market Share Estimated at 23 Percent in April

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 April totaled 2,292,000 net tons (NT)*. This was a 17.6% decrease from the 2,782,000 permit tons recorded in March and a 12.4% decrease from the March final imports total of 2,615,000. Import permit tonnage for finished steel in April was 1,928,000, up 1.1% from the final imports total of 1,906,000 in March. For the first four months of 2023 (including April SIMA permits and March final imports), total and finished steel imports were 9,805,000 NT and 7,584,000 NT, down 12.6% and 14.6%, respectively, from the same period in 2022. The estimated finished steel import market share in April was 23% and is 23% year-to-date (YTD).

Steel imports with large increases in April permits vs. March final imports include reinforcing bars (up 63%), hot rolled bars (up 60%), heavy structural shapes (up 57%), cold finished bars (up 22%) and wire drawn (up 11%). Products with significant year-to-date (YTD) increases vs. the same period in 2022 include oil country goods (up 54%), black plate (up 25%), line pipe (up 25%), standard rails (up 22%) and hot rolled bars (up 21%).

In April, the largest steel import permit applications were for Canada (575,000 NT, down 13% from March final), Mexico (340,000 NT, down 22%), South Korea (179,000 NT, down 4%), Japan (119,000 NT, up 1%) and China (114,000 NT, up 98%). Through the first four months of 2023, the largest suppliers were Canada (2,366,000 NT, up 2%), Mexico (1,613,000 NT, down 17%) and Brazil (1,324,000 NT, up 8%).

*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.