Washington, D.C. – Based on the Commerce Department’s most recent Steel Import Monitoring and Analysis (SIMA) data, the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) reported today that steel import permit applications for the month of June totaled 2,250,000 net tons (NT)*. This was a 7.4% decrease from the 2,428,000 permit tons recorded in May and a 9.4% decrease from the May final imports total of 2,484,000. Import permit tonnage for finished steel in June was 1,727,000, down 2.9% from the final imports total of 1,778,000 in May. For the first six months of 2025 (including June SIMA permits and May final imports), total and finished steel imports were 14,623,000 NT and 10,872,000 NT, down 4.7% and 7.1%, respectively, from the same period in 2024. The estimated finished steel import market share in June was 20% and is 21% year-to-date (YTD).
Steel imports with large increases in June permits vs. May final imports include reinforcing bars (up 54%), wire rods (up 34%), sheets and strip hot dipped galvanized (up 26%), cut lengths plates (up 26%) and standard pipe (up 24%). Products with significant year-to-date (YTD) increases vs. the same period in 2024 include tin plate (up 73%), stainless pipe and tube (up 69%), line pipe (up 35%), wire rods (up 24%) and oil country goods (up 17%).
In June, the largest steel import permit applications were for Brazil (426,000 NT, up 6.4% from May final), Canada (315,000 NT, down 22%), South Korea (267,000 NT, down 15%), Vietnam (131,000 NT, up 34%) and Taiwan (127,000 NT, up 18%). Through the first six months of 2025, the largest suppliers were Canada (2,777,000 NT, down 20%), Brazil (2,586,000 NT, up 3%) and Mexico (1,713,000 NT, down 12%).