Steel imports surge in July on higher semi-finished volumes

Bahrain’s steel imports under HS 7207-7229 surged to 49,608 tons in July 2026, up 216.0pct YoY and 476.2pct month on month, according to Bahrain Customs data.

The sharp July increase was overwhelmingly driven by semi-finished steel. Imports of semi-finished steel under HS 7207 reached 42,346 tons, compared with 7,486 tons in July 2025 and 588 tons in June 2026.

India was the dominant source of July semi-finished steel imports, supplying around 33,666 tons, while Saudi Arabia supplied about 8,678 tons. Finished steel imports were considerably smaller and more diversified, with China leading flat steel supplies and Qatar the largest source of long products.

For January-July, Bahrain imported 164,039 tons of steel products under HS 7207-7229, up 52.2pct from 107,783 tons in the corresponding period of 2025.

Semi-finished steel accounted for most of the increase, rising 219.0pct YoY to 98,874 tons. In contrast, imports of long products declined 13.4pct to 40,932 tons, while flat steel imports fell 16.1pct to 21,566 tons. Stainless and alloy steel imports decreased 29.5pct to 2,666 tons.

India was the largest supplier during the first seven months, with 72,253 tons, followed by Saudi Arabia at 45,167 tons, China at 16,860 tons and Oman at 13,819 tons.