US steel imports may fall by 6% in 2018

AISI predicts a 43.6% decline in steel imports from Turkey during 2018.

Estimates provided by the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) based on data from recent years of imports indicate that steel imports into the country are likely to decline by more than 6% throughout 2018, compared to the previous year. ...

According to AIIS, total and final US steel imports for the first seven months of this year amounted to 20.862 million tons and 16.19 million tons, respectively. Imports of general and finished U.S. steel products decreased by almost 10% compared to the corresponding period in 2017.

According to the data, imports of finished steel in the country are likely to be 27.755 million tonnes, down 6.1% compared to an annual import volume of 29.561 million tonnes in 2017. Likewise, annual total steel imports are expected to decline by 6.2% from 38.126 million tonnes in 2017 to 35.763 million tonnes throughout 2018.

Wire rod imports are likely to be the heaviest in 2018. Imports of these products will fall more than 28% year on year. Other products that may report a significant reduction in imports are heavy structural forms (-21.2%) and heavy plate (-17.5%).

AISI expects a notable 43.6% decline in steel industry finished product imports from Turkey in 2018. In addition, imports from South Korea and China are likely to fall 12% and 10%, respectively. On the contrary, imports from Vietnam are expected to increase significantly by more than 43%.