Finished steel import permits up 15% in June

Based on the Commerce Department’s most recent Steel Import Monitoring and Analysis (SIMA) data, the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) reported on July 6 that steel import permit applications Steel Import Monitoring and Analysis (SIMA) data for the month of June totaled 2,734,000 net tons (NT).

This was a 3% decrease from the 2,807,000 permit tons recorded in May and a 2% increase from the May preliminary imports total of 2,692,000 NT.

Import permit tonnage for finished steel in June was 2,109,000 NT, up 15% from the preliminary imports total of 1,838,000 NT in May.

Year-to date (YTD) 2011 total and finished steel import permit tons would annualize at 28,803,000 NT and 21,767,000 NT, up 20% and 15%, respectively, vs. the 23,929,000 NT and 18,857,000 NT imported in 2010.

The estimated finished steel import market share in June was 23%, and the year-to-date share increased to 22%.