According to US Government data, total exports of steel mill product increased in March over February 29.2 percent. "Strong market demand for American-made steel products in the NAFTA region and other Western Hemisphere markets caused the surge in March, with exports to our NAFTA partners increasing 29 percent and to the rest of the Hemisphere, 88.3 percent." said David Phelps, president, AIIS.
While some of the month-on-month increase might be due to catch up shipments due to weather-related logistics problems in some parts of the US in February, total exports for the first quarter of 2010 over the first quarter of 2009 were up by 50.7 percent, evidencing a strong recovery in steel demand in nearly all regions of the world," added Phelps.
Total Steel exports in March 2010 were 1.15 million tons compared to 890 thousand tons in February 2010, a 29.2 percent increase, and a 64 percent increase compared to March 2009. According to year-to-date figures, exports increased 50.7 percent compared to 2009 or from 1.985 million tons in 2009 to 2.993 million tons in 2010.