US imports of finished steel dropped significantly

The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) reported that total US imports and finished steel fell sharply from the previous month in February this year. Aggregate steel imports during the first two months of 2019 increased significantly over the previous year, while finished steel imports declined slightly. In addition, the finished steel market share was estimated at 20% in February 2019, according to preliminary figures released by the US Census Bureau.

The United States imported a total of 2.433 million tonnes of steel in February this year, down 30.1% from final imports on January 19. Of these, the import of finished steel amounted to 1.744 million tons. Imports of finished steel recorded a decline of almost 29% compared to the previous month. The total imports of finished steel in January 1919 amounted to 3.479 million tons and 2.450 million tons, respectively.

Aggregate steel imports in January-February 1919 amounted to 5.912 million tons, an increase of 10.2% over the previous year. On the contrary, since the beginning of the year, imports of finished steel decreased by 3.6% to 4.351 million. The total volume of imports of finished steel in January-February 18 amounted to 5.362 million tons and 4.351 million tons, respectively. The market share of finished steel imports was estimated at 22% during the first two months of 2019.

Imports of all registered metal products decreased over the month.