American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) announced the release of its 2018 Annual Statistical Report (ASR), which provides comprehensive data on the U.S. steel industry and select data on the North American steel industry as a whole. In 2018, total steel imports into the United States decreased 12 percent compared to the previous year, while finished steel imports decreased 13 percent over the same period and captured a 23 percent share of apparent steel consumption, down 4 percentage points from the previous year. Shipments from domestic steel mills measured 95.3 million net tons (NT) in 2018, up five percent from the previous year. Shipments in 2018 were four percent higher than the average of 91.5 million net tons seen from 2013 to 2017. The report also notes that U.S. raw steel production was 95 million net tons in 2018, a six percent increase from 2017. The construction and automotive industries continued as the leading end-use markets for shipments of U.S. steel products.

The AISI report is the most comprehensive reference of its kind, providing statistical data for the U.S. steel industry and a variety of selected statistical data on the Canadian, Mexican and world steel industries. It features extensive charts and graphs, including selected statistical highlights on shipments, apparent supply, imports, employment and raw steel data over a 10-year period; selected financial highlights; shipments by products and markets over a 10-year period; raw steel production (including selected state-level production data) and capability utilization; and, detailed imports and exports data.

“The steel industry has been at the center of the economic policy debate on both national and global levels over the last year, and the AISI Annual Statistical Report serves as a critical source of industry data. The ASR is a comprehensive and reliable reference for steel industry statistics, including an executive summary that features trends in the North American steel industry,” said AISI President and CEO Thomas J. Gibson. “The 135 page report includes numerous charts, graphs and other thorough industry information. We are proud that the ASR remains the industry standard for reporting on the steel market in the United States. I encourage anyone who is interested in industry data to purchase a copy.”

source: AISI