Monthly U.S. steel imports in January this year increased 4.6 percent from December and fell 46.3 percent year over year to 1,498,912 tons, according to preliminary U.S. Commerce Department census data. In value terms, US steel imports in January were $1.53 billion, up from $3.09 billion in January 2025.
The main sources of US steel imports in January were: South Korea with 258,668 tons, Mexico with 213,396 tons, Canada with 198,239 tons and Brazil with 160 505 tons.
By product groups, imports of semi-finished products amounted to 348,353 tons in January, compared to 367,385 tons in December and 678,697 tons in January 2025. Flat product imports stood at 454,968 tonnes in January, up from 411,765 tonnes in December and 922,377 tonnes in January 2025. Imports of long products totaled 358,457 tonnes in January, up from 326,959 tonnes in December and 550,098 tonnes in January last year. Pipe imports totaled 262,929 tons in January, up from 261,204 tons in December and 529,099 tons in January 2024.
According to the American Iron and Steel Institute, the import share of the U.S. steel market was estimated at 15 percent in January of this year.
