Steel imports plummeted by 25% to 2.23 million tons in May after auto plants shuttered during the coronavirus public health crisis.
Imports fell 19.4% as compared to April, according to the the U.S. Commerce Department’s most recent Steel Import Monitoring and Analysis data.
Finished steel products that require no further processing in the United States, such as at the 20 steel companies and service centers at the Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor, totaled 1.5 million tons, up 15.7% as compared to April.
Imports grabbed 23% of the U.S. market share in May and have taken 19% so far this year, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute.
The United States has imported 11.4 million tons of steel during the first five months of the year, which is down 16% as compared to the same period in 2019. That includes 7.33 million tons of finished steel imports, which was down 26.4%.
In May, imports of oil country goods rose by 93%, standard pipe by 33%, hot rolled bars by 29%, line pipe by 26%, tin plate by 24%, mechanical tubing by 18%, cut lengths plates by 15%, wire rods by 13%, sheets and strip all other metallic coatings by 12% and cold rolled sheets by 11%. So far this year, tin free steel increased by 29% and light shapes bars by 18%.
Imports rose 45% from South Korea, 50% from Japan, 86% from Turkey, 75% from Taiwan, and 14% from Germany last month, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute. So far this year, imports have fallen by 27% from South Korea, 39% from Japan, and 41% from Germany.
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We've leveled up to Stage 2
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“The project volume, totaling 25,000 cubic meters, is comparable to 10 Statues of Liberty."
Longshoremen at the Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor help guide coils of steel as they are unloaded from a barge in 2013. Imports of steel plunged by 25% in May.