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This morning in metals news: U.S. steel imports were down by nearly one-fifth during the January-May period; India has imposed duties on some steel products imported from China, Korea and Vietnam; and imports of oil country goods are down significantly this year.
U.S. imports of steel fell 19% through the first five months of the year, the American Iron and Steel Institute reported.
U.S. imports totaled 10.98 million net tons during the period, down 19.2% from the same period in 2019.
India imposes steel duties
India has opted to slap anti-dumping duties on flat-rolled steel from China, Korea and Vietnam, Reuters reported.
The duties are scheduled to last for five years, according to the report. On the heels of recent skirmishes between Indian and Chinese soldiers at the border between the two countries, in addition to the depressive economic effect of the coronavirus pandemic, the Indian government has intensified its promotion of the use of domestically produced products.
May steel imports reach 1.6M metric tons
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. steel imports totaled 1.6 million metric tons in May.
“The May change in steel imports based on metric tonnage reflected decreases in blooms, billets, and slabs,” the Census Bureau reported Tuesday. “Increases occurred in oil country goods, standard pipe, and tin plate. Decreases occurred primarily with Brazil. Increases occurred primarily with Korea, Australia, and Japan.”
Meanwhile, through the first four months of the year, the commodity category seeing the largest drop in imports was oil country goods. Oil country goods imports checked in at 455,409 tons compared with 1.06 million tons during the January-April 2019 time frame.
