DoC: U.S. steel imports jump 15% MoM in May

Total value of the country's steel imports reached $1.96 billion in the month, up 11.4% from April, with the average unit price being $986/tonne, according to Mysteel calculations based on DoC data.

Larger shipments from Brazil, South Korea and Japan mostly accounted for the on-month increase in U.S. steel imports, likely reflecting a normalization of order flows after an unusually weak April, rather than a fundamental demand recovery, market watchers observe.

Imports from Brazil surged 53.6% on month to 300,012 tonnes, though still down 17.5% on year, the DoC data indicate. South Korea was the top supplier at 362,223 tonnes, up 37.2% on month, the data show. Japan shipped 128,642 tonnes of steel to the United States in May, soaring 90.6% from April.

In contrast, imports from Spain, Australia, and Austria declined sharply. Spanish volumes plunged 70.3% on month to 10,373 tonnes, while Australian imports nearly vanished, falling 98.8% to just 221 tonnes, the DoC figures indicate. Austrian shipments dropped 38.2% to 17,048 tonnes.

The DoC statistics show that for this year's January-May period, American importers brought in around 8.35 million tonnes of steel products, slumping 2.89 million tonnes or 25.7% from the same period last year – before the 50% tariff took effect. President Trump doubled tariffs on imported steel from 25% to 50% in June last year, a move that has since weighed on imports by eroding the price competitiveness of foreign steel in the U.S. market.

The combined import value over the five months fell even more sharply, declining 33.9% to $8.33 billion, indicating an 11% year-on-year drop in the average import price – a sign of persistent price pressure in the global steel market, Mysteel Global notes.

Written by Tiffany Hou, houtianhui@mysteel.com

Edited by Russ McCulloch, russ.mcculloch@mysteel.com