Steel import permit applications ran to 2,499,000 net tons in August, up 8.9% from the 2,294,000 tons filed in July, per American Iron and Steel Institute. Permits are applications to import. They are not a count of steel that has arrived.
A buyer placing fourth-quarter tons is working a thinner offshore market than a year ago. Total steel imports run 16,060,000 tons through August, down 14.3%, with finished steel down 17.8%.
The largest permit filings in August, by country:
South Korea: 418,000 tons, down 25% from July
Brazil: 368,000 tons, up 45%
Canada: 284,000 tons, up 1%
Mexico: 203,000 tons, up 5.5%
Vietnam: 134,000 tons, down 13.6%
Permits for plates in coils rose 74% in the month and cut length plates 72%. All other rails rose 78%.
The year-long decline follows a run of Section 232 increases. The duty came back at 25% in early 2025, doubled to 50% last June, and was extended to the full customs value of derivative products. Imports fell 29.5% through April. Downstream manufacturers paid for it, with Caterpillar guiding to a $2.2 billion to $2.4 billion tariff cost for the year, and Deere booking $361 million in a single quarter.
US Steel and Hyundai Steel are building domestic capacity to replace those tons, slowly. US Steel is putting $1.9 billion into a direct-reduced-iron plant in Arkansas. Hyundai Steel’s Louisiana mill does not reach commercial production until around 2029.
AISI publishes September’s permit data next month.
