Based on preliminary Census Bureau data, the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) reported Tuesday that the US imported a total of 2,513,000 net tons (nt) of steel in March 2008, representing a decrease of 12 percent from import totals for the year-ago month, and an increase of 1 percent from February 2008.
The data show that the 2.5 million nt imported in March included 2,064,000 nt of finished steel, a figure that is down 12 percent from March 2007, and up 7 percent from last month. Total and finished steel imports on an annualized basis are down 8 and 7 percent, respectively, compared to 2007.
Comparing March imports to that of the previous month, products that saw large increases in were plate cut lengths (up 81 percent), standard pipe (up 69 percent), OCTG (up 47 percent), galvanized hot dipped sheets & strip (up 45 percent), mechanical tubing (up 35 percent), plates in coil (up 27 percent) and tin plate (up 24 percent).
Product categories which registered significant decreases YTD March 2008 vs. YTD March 2007 were: wire rods (down 43 percent), metallic-coated sheets and strip (down 42 percent), rebar (down 35 percent), cold rolled sheet (down 31 percent), and structural pipe and tubing (down 26 percent). The only product categories that saw YTD import totals rise year-over-year were line pipe (up 43 percent), OCTG (up 13.7 percent), and structural shapes heavy (up 14 percent).