 Imports
hit second highest U.S. total
Record pace continues
Washington, DC— Based on preliminary Census
Bureau data for June, the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI)
reported that the United States imported a total of 4,197,000 net
tons (NT) of steel in July 2006, including 3,368,000 NT of finished
steel (up 13.6 and 8.5 percent, respectively, vs. June’s final
data).
July was the second highest monthly total in United
States history, surpassed only by the 4,418,000 NT recorded in August
1998. Year-to-date (YTD), imports in these categories are up 38
and 39 percent, respectively, compared to YTD imports for the same
period in 2005.
Looking at a three-month rolling average, finished
steel imports overall are up 8 percent, with notable increases in
plates in coil (up 72 percent), sheets & strip all other metallic
coated (up 25 percent), hot-rolled sheets (up 22 percent), sheets
& strip galvanized hot dipped (up 13 percent), cut-length plates
(up 11 percent) and numerous tubular products, including line pipe,
mechanical tubing and oil country goods (up 33, 27 and 14 percent,
respectively).
This rising trend remains pronounced, especially
in Asia — including India (up 49 percent), China (up 27 percent),
South Korea (up 22 percent) and Japan (up 21 percent). Imports from
the People’s Republic of China, a non-market economy, are
on a pace to exceed 4.5 million tons this year and, in July, China
was the single largest source of steel imports to the United States.
Key products with large increases in July compared
to the month before include line pipe (up 55 percent), plates in
coil (up 51 percent), bars-l ight shapes (up 42 percent), semi-
finished steel (used in significant quantities by converters and
processors — up 41 percent), oil country goods (up 34 percent)
several types of corrosion-resistant steel, including electrolytic
galvanized sheets & strip, all other metallic coated sheets
& strip and hot dipped galvanized sheets & strip (up 84,
19 and 11 percent, respectively). |
