Based on the U.S. Commerce Department’s most recent Steel Import Monitoring and Analysis (SIMA) data, the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) reported Jan. 5 that steel import permit applications for the month of December 2011 totaled 2,208,000 net tons (NT).

This was a 9-percent increase from the 2,027,000 permit tons recorded in November 2011 and a 5-percent increase from the November preliminary imports total of 2,107,000 NT, according to AISI.  Import permit tonnage for finished steel in December was 1,618,000 NT, down 2-percent from the preliminary imports total of 1,646,000 NT in November.

Full-year 2011 total and finished steel import permit tons were 28,646,000 NT and 21,871,000 NT, up 20 percent and 16 percent, respectively, vs. the 23,929,000 NT and 18,857,000 NT imported in 2010. The estimated finished steel import market share in 2011 was 22 percent, and was 19 percent in December, according to AISI.