Posted on 28 Jan 2016
Full year 2015 total and finished steel imports are 38,718,000 and 31,425,000 net tons (NT), respectively, down 13% and 7% respectively, vs. 2014. Finished steel import market share was estimated at 26% in December and 29% for the full year 2015.
Key finished steel products with a significant import increase in December compared to November are wire rods (up 77%), tin plate (up 71%), cut lengths plates (up 65%), heavy structural shapes (up 46%), hot rolled bars (up 20%) and cold rolled sheets (19%).
The major products that recorded significant rise in import volumes in 2015 in comparison with the year before are reinforcing bar (up 38%) and standard pipe (up 13%).
In December, the largest volumes of finished steel imports from offshore were from South Korea (235,000NT, down 25% vs. November final), Turkey (167,000 NT, up 8%), Japan (144,000 NT, down 13%), China (135,000 NT, up 111%) and Germany (122,000 NT, up 42%).
The largest offshore suppliers for the full year 2015 were South Korea (4,854,000 NT, down 11%), Turkey (2,808,000 NT, up 28%), China (2,374,000 NT, down 25%), Japan (2,259,000 NT, up 7%) and Germany (1,515,000 NT, up 19%).
Courtesy: American Iron and Steel Institute
