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 August totaled 1,876,000 net tons (NT)*. This was a 15.7% decrease from the 2,230,000 permit tons recorded in July and a 15.9% decrease from the July final imports total of 2,239,000. Import permit tonnage for finished steel in August was 1,400,000, down 16.9% from the final imports total of 1,686,000 in July. For the first eight months of 2025 (including August SIMA permits and July final imports), total and finished steel imports were 18,741,000 NT and 13,895,000 NT, down 6.9% and 10.6%, respectively, from the same period in 2024. The estimated finished steel import market share in August was 16% and is 20% year-to-date (YTD).

Steel imports with large increases in August permits vs. July final imports include tin free steel (up 51%), pressure tubing (up 41%), tool steel (up 15%) and black plate (up 14%). Products with significant year-to-date (YTD) increases vs. the same period in 2024 include stainless pipe and tube (up 51%), tin plate (up 43%), line pipe (up 27%), tin free steel (up 25%) and wire rods (up 20%).

In August, the largest steel import permit applications were for Canada (288,000 NT, down 4% from July final), Brazil (255,000 NT, down 15%), Mexico (213,000 NT, down 16%), South Korea (177,000 NT, down 47%) and Japan (128,000 NT, up 82%). Through the first eight months of 2025, the largest suppliers were Canada (3,396,000 NT, down 25%), Brazil (3,138,000 NT, down 7%) and Mexico (2,239,000 NT, down 2%).

*Note that import permits data are counts of tonnages requested in applications for licenses to import steel products and are not actual import volumes. For a number of reasons, permit tonnages may understate or overstate actual import volumes for the month, preliminary estimates of which will be available later this month.