SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The estimates provided by the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI), based on year-to-date import data through November last year suggest that the country’s steel imports are likely to report a decline of 8.9% during the whole year 2018, upon comparison with the previous year. The finished steel imports are likely to drop by 11.4%.

According to AIIS, the total and finished steel imports by the US during the initial eleven-month period of the previous year totaled 31.834 million NT and 24.016 million NT respectively. The imports of total and finished steel by the U.S. have dropped by 10.8% and 13.2% respectively, when compared with the corresponding period in 2017.

As per data, finished steel imports by the country are likely to total 26.199 million net tons (Mt), considerably lower by 11.4% when matched with the yearly import total of 29.561 Mt in 2017. Similarly, the annualized imports of total steel are expected to decline by 8.9% from 38.126 Mt in 2017 to 34.728 Mt during entire 2018.

The imports of Heavy Structural Shapes are likely to witness heaviest decline in 2018. The imports of these products are likely to fall by more than 32% year-on-year. The other products that are likely to report significant drop in imports are Wire Rods (-27.7%), Cold Rolled Sheets (-22.3%), Reinforcing bars (-21.3%) and Standard Pipes (-21.3%).

AISI foresees notable decline of 45.2% in finished steel mill products import from Turkey during 2018. Also, imports from South Korea and China are likely to fall by 22.3% and 13.0% respectively. On the contrary, imports from Vietnam are expected to surge higher significantly by over 47%.