• 9.2 million metric tons in 2022 Canada is the world’s sixteenth largest steel importer (2022 ranking). In 2022, • 16.6% steel import growth since 2015 Canada imported 9.2 million metric tons of steel, a 8.6 • 2022 import volume down 8.6% and import value percent decrease from 10 million metric tons in 2021. up 14.5% from 2021 • Import penetration up from 61.2% in 2021 to Canada imported steel from 109 countries and territories in 2022. The 10 63.4% in 2022 countries highlighted in the map below represent the top sources • Top three import sources: United States, South for Canada imports of steel, with Canada receiving more than 244.8 Korea, and China thousand metric tons from each and together accounting for 80.3 percent • Largest producers: ArcelorMittal SA, Bedrock of Canada steel imports in 2022. Industries LP, Algoma Steel Inc., Gerdau SA, and Heico Companies LLC.
Canada Imports of Steel Mill Products - 2022, Metric Tons
United States South Korea China Turkey Brazil Vietnam Taiwan Mexico Germany Argentina Rest of the World
Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Enforcement and Compliance. Trade data from S&P Global, Ltd.
Steel Trade Balance
Canada’s imports have increased by 16.6 percent between 2015 and 2022, while exports have increased by 6.7 percent. In 2022, the Canada steel trade deficit amounted to 2.5 million metric tons, a 23.2 percent decrease from 3.2 million metric tons in 2021.
Canada Trade in Steel Mill Products, Annual, Metric Tons
Direction Export Import 20M
10M
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Enforcement and Compliance. Trade data from S&P Global, Ltd. Steel Imports Report: Canada
Imports Volume, Value, and Product
In 2015, Canada imported 7.9 million metric tons of steel products. Between 2015 and 2022, import levels alternated, rising in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2021 and falling in 2016, 2020, and 2022. In 2022, the import volume was 9.2 million metric tons, a 8.6 percent decrease from 10 million metric tons in 2021. The value of imports in 2022 has increased 14.5 percent to 13.8 billion from 12.1 billion in 2021.
In 2022, flat products accounted for the largest share of Canada steel imports at 34.8 percent, (3.2 million metric tons). Long products accounted for 34.4 percent (3.2 million metric tons), followed by pipe and tube products at 17.9 percent (1.6 million metric tons), semi-finished products at 8.8 percent (803.2 thousand metric tons), and stainless products at 4.2 percent (384.6 thousand metric tons).
Canada Imports of Steel Mill Products, Metric Tons
Product Category Flat Products Long Products Pipe and Tube Semi-finished Stainless 10M
5M
0M 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Enforcement and Compliance. Trade data from S&P Global, Ltd.
Canada Imports of Steel Mill Products, U.S. Dollars
Product Category Flat Products Long Products Pipe and Tube Semi-finished Stainless
4bn
2bn
0bn 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Enforcement and Compliance. Trade data from S&P Global, Ltd. Steel Imports Report: Canada Imports by Top Source
The top 10 source countries for Canada's steel imports represented 80.3 percent of the total steel import volume in 2022 at 7.4 million metric tons (mmt). The United States accounted for the largest share of Canada's steel imports at 36.1 percent 3.3 mmt), followed by South Korea at 10.4 percent (952 thousand mt), the China at 8.3 percent (762.7 thousand mt), Turkey at 6.1 percent (557.8 thousand mt), Brazil at 3.9 percent (355.9 thousand mt), Vietnam at 3.5 percent (319.2 thousand mt), Taiwan at 3.3 percent (299.6 thousand mt), Mexico at 3.1 percent (281.8 thousand mt), Germany at 2.9 percent (269.5 thousand mt), and Argentina at 2.7 percent (244.8 thousand mt).
Canada Imports of Steel Mill Products - 2022, Top 10 Sources, Metric Tons Top Partner Countries Germany 0.27M (2.94%) United States Taiwan 0.3M (3.27%) Vietnam 0.32M (3.48%) Rest of the World
Brazil 0.36M (3.88%) United States South Korea
3.31M (36.11%) China Turkey 0.56M (6.09%) Turkey Brazil
China 0.76M (8.32%) Vietnam
Taiwan Mexico Germany South Korea 0.95M (10.39%) Rest of the World 1.81M (19.75%) Argentina
Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Enforcement and Compliance. Trade data from S&P Global Ltd.
Trends in Imports from Top Sources
From 2019 to 2022, the import volume increased from four of Canada’s top 10 steel import sources and the import value increased from seven of Canada's top 10 steel import sources. Outside the top 10 sources, other notable volume changes included Canada's steel imports from Columbia (1890.2%), Switzerland (1257.9%), Saudi Arabia (1171.5%), Thailand (228.0%), Indonesia (-78.5%), Italy (-74.9%), Russia (-66.5%), Luxembourg (-52.6%).
Percent Change in Imports from Top 10 Sources
Volume Percent Change Value Percent Change
-8.53% United States 19.77%
53.39% South Korea 32.80%
28.81% China 49.60%
-23.81% Turkey -16.30%
-59.87% Brazil -55.82%
-10.37% Vietnam 7.93%
-8.06% Taiwan 29.49%
-44.26% Mexico -20.35%
22.24% Germany 57.74%
55.01% Argentina 65.97%
-60% -40% -20% 0% 20% 40% 60%
Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Enforcement and Compliance. Trade data from S&P Global Ltd. Steel Imports Report: Canada
Top Sources by Steel Product Category
The top source countries for Canada imports by volume vary across types of steel products. Canada imported the largest share of flat products from the U.S. in 2022 at 55.0 percent, followed by South Korea at 9.0 percent. The U.S. was also the largest source for long product imports at 30.0 percent, while South Korea sent the second largest share of long products at 15.5 percent. Canada imported 23.4 percent of its pipe and tube products from China, followed by the United States at 23.3 percent. Canada’s largest single source of semi-finished steel imports came from Brazil in 2022, accounting for 39.2 percent. Argentina and Mexico were also major sources of semi-finished steel at 24.1 percent and 14.2 percent, respectively. The United States was the largest source of imported stainless products at 39.4 percent, followed by China at 25.3 percent.
Canada Top 5 Imports Sources by Product Category - 2022, Metric Tons
Product Category Volume Flat Products United States 1,752,394.24 South Korea 288,168.55 Taiwan 170,750.75 Germany 130,969.91 China 125,373.74 Long Products United States 943,917.67 South Korea 489,380.59 Turkey 361,701.74 Vietnam 199,472.64 United Arab Emirates 162,728.89 Pipe and Tube China 381,889.15 United States 381,548.90 South Korea 164,022.39 India 80,076.20 Mexico 78,727.91 Semi-finished Brazil 314,854.35 Argentina 193,917.56 Mexico 114,360.31 United States 79,052.91 Ukraine 37,541.40 Stainless United States 151,630.26 China 97,123.28 Taiwan 46,308.39
Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Enforcement and Compliance. Trade data from S&P Global Ltd. Steel Imports Report: Canada
Overall Production and Import Penetration
Canada Import Penetration, Millions of Metric Tons
Production Volume Apparent Consumption Import Volume Import Penetration 80%
Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Enforcement and Compliance. Trade data from S&P Global Ltd. Production and apparent consumption data from CRU Group.
Production decreased 9.1 percent from 13.2 mmt in 2021 to 12.0 mmt in 2022. Since 2015, apparent consumption (a measure of steel demand) has consistently exceeded production. The gap between this measure of steel demand and production decreased from -3.2 mmt in 2021 to -2.5 mmt in 2022. Since 2015, import penetration has been relatively steady, with the exception of 2019. In 2022, import penetration stood at 63.4 percent, up 2.2 percentage points from 61.2 percent in 2021.
Top Producers
The top steel producers in Canada are mostly foreign owned companies that have bought out domestically owned companies of steel production. The largest steel producer in Canada, with headquarters in Luxemburg, ArcelorMittal SA is ranked second in global crude steel production in 2020. In 2022, the top three companies of steel production are ArcelorMittal SA, Bedrock Industries LP, and Algoma Steel Inc.
Canada Top Producers
Rank Company Production (mmt) Main Products 1 ArcelorMittal SA 7.30 Flat products, long products, hot-rolled, cold-rolled, galvanized, tin plate 2 Bedrock Industries LP 4.70 Flat products, hot-rolled 3 Algoma Steel Inc 4.30 Hot-rolled sheet, cold-rolled sheet, plate 4 Gerdau SA 1.60 Long products, rebar 5 Heico Companies LLC 0.70 Wire rod, billet, semi-finished, bars, wire
Source: CRU Group (Does not include stainless products)
Steel Imports Report: Glossary
Apparent Consumption: Domestic crude steel production plus steel imports minus steel exports. Shipment data are not available for all countries, therefore crude steel production is used as a proxy.
Export Market: Destination of a country’s exports.
Flat Products: Produced by rolling semi-finished steel through varying sets of rolls. Includes sheets, strips, and plates. Used most often in the automotive, tubing, appliance, and machinery manufacturing sectors.
Import Penetration: Ratio of imports to apparent consumption.
Import Source: Source of a country’s imports.
Long Products: Steel products that fall outside the flat products category. Includes bars, rails, rods, and beams. Used in many sectors but most commonly in construction.
Pipe and Tube Products: Either seamless or welded pipe and tube products. Used in many sectors but most commonly in construction and energy sectors.
Semi-finished Products: The initial, intermediate solid forms of molten steel, to be re-heated and further forged, rolled, shaped, or otherwise worked into finished steel products. Includes blooms, billets, slabs, ingots, and steel for castings.
Stainless Products: Steel products containing at minimum 10.5% chromium (Cr) offering better corrosion resistance than regular steel.
Steel Mill Products: Carbon, alloy, or stainless steel produced by either a basic oxygen furnace or an electric arc furnace. Includes semi-finished steel products and finished steel products. For trade data purposes, steel mill products are defined at the Harmonized System (HS) 6-digit level as: 720610 through 721650, 721699 through 730110, 730210, 730240 through 730290, and 730410 through 730690. The following discontinued HS codes have been included for purposes of reporting historical data (prior to 2007): 722520, 722693, 722694, 722910, 730410, 730421, 730610, 730620, and 730660.
