Steel production and
import figures in the United States portray a domestic steel industry in 2023
that is struggling to match the 2022 pace of output or consumption.
This July, steelmakers in
the U.S. shipped 7.55 million tons of product, a 1.6 percent decrease from the
more than 7.67 million tons shipped in July 2022, according to the
Washington-based American Iron & Steel Institute (AISI).
Year to date, domestic
steel shipments of more than 51.86 million tons represent a 3.3 percent
decrease from the 53.65 million tons shipped in the first seven months of 2022.
Offering
better news, AISI also has reported that in the week ending Sept. 2, 2023, mill
production in the U.S. of nearly 1.73 million tons increased by 1.2 percent from
the nearly 1.71 million tons made in the comparable week in 2022.
Year to date, however,
mill output through Sept. 2 of this year was about 59.84 million tons, which is
down 1.8 percent from the more than 60.9 million tons made in the same time
frame in 2022.
As well, the U.S. mill
capability utilization (capacity) rate has averaged 76.0 percent so far this
year. That is a 4.6 decrease from the 79.7 percent average capacity rate in the
first eight months of 2022.
Whether for market or
government policy reasons,
U.S. Commerce Department data reported by AISI shows domestic steelmakers have
claimed a larger share of the overall market so far in 2023.
Commerce Department Steel
Import Monitoring and Analysis (SIMA) figures indicate steel import permit
applications for the month of August for about 2.21 million tons of shipments
equated to a 3.2 percent decrease from the more than 2.28 million tons brought
in last August.
Year to date after eight
months, total (finished and semi-finished) steel imports of slightly more
than 19.59 million tons is down 10.9 percent from the same period in 2022. AISI
says the estimated finished steel import market share in August was 21 percent
while year to date it is 22 percent.
The leading exporters of
steel to the U.S. so far this year, according to AISI, are Canada (4.7 million
tons), Mexico (more than 2.9 million tons) and Brazil (nearly 2.7 million
tons).
In
the scrap market, the relatively stable steel output level has in much of 2023
created an equally stable ferrous scrap price. While export markets can help
lift prices in a static domestic market, leading export destination Turkey is
having a down year,
as are, to some extent, Bangladesh and Pakistan. India has emerged in
2023 as one of the only major destinations likely to buy larger amounts of
exported U.S. scrap this year