According to a report Monday from the American Institute for International Steel (AIIS), US steel exports grew for the second month in a row in April, expanding 3.8 percent from March to 1.08 million net tons. Exports were 3.7 percent higher than in April 2013 and were at their highest level since October.
Exports to Canada, which buys about half of all steel sent out of the United States, dipped less than a percentage point to 561,159 net tons, while exports to Mexico grew 6.9 percent to 368,215 net tons. Exports to members of the European Union jumped 16.4 percent to 34,942 net tons.
While the April numbers for Canada and Mexico were up over the same month a year earlier--by 5.1 percent and 8 percent, respectively--year-over-year exports to the EU were down 26.3 percent. Exports to the Dominican Republic grew 13-fold from March to April, and 21-fold from April 2013 to April 2014 to total 24,199 net tons, making the Caribbean country the recipient of the third-largest amount of US steel for the month (not including the multi-nation EU).
Despite two consecutive months of growth, total year-to-date exports remain down 6.3 percent, at 3.99 million net tons, after a harsh winter in many parts of the United States slowed trade in January and February. Exports to Mexico are about even for the year, while Canada is down 3.3 percent. Nearly all other countries have brought in less steel from the US this year, with China, Venezuela and Brazil among a handful of exceptions.
In the statement, AIIS Executive Director Richard Chriss commented: “In view of the significance and proximity of the Canadian and Mexican markets, it is no coincidence that the vast majority of United States steel exports go to our North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) partners. We can also see the positive effects of free trade in the growth of exports to the Dominican Republic, a party to the Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR), which continues to phase out tariffs on US steel exports to the Dominican and the five other countries that are parties to the agreement. There is an important and simple lesson here as the United States pursues trade pacts with other countries and regions, notably in the United States-EU Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership negotiations, and the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership talks: Free trade works.”
Total steel exports in April 2014 were 1.080 million tons compared to 1.040 million tons in March 2014, a 3.8 percent increase, and a 3.7 percent increase compared to April 2013. According to year-to-date figures, exports decreased 6.3 percent compared to 2013 or from 4.255 million tons in 2013 to 3.987 million tons in 2014.