"The decline in exports for the month was primarily due to a decline in exports to our NAFTA partners. NAFTA market demand in June had begun to slow and the decline in demand is reflected in both export shipments and US domestic market shipment data," said David Phelps, AIIS President.
"The good news in the export data in June is the continued strength of exports to non-NAFTA Western Hemisphere markets, which grew by over 9 percent month-on-month and continue to run at 78 percent higher than in 2009 for the first half of 2010," concluded Phelps.
Total Steel exports in June 2010 were 1.048 million tons compared to 1.055 million tons in May 2010, a 0.7% percent decrease, and a 48.4 percent increase compared to June 2009. According to year-to-date figures, exports increased 58.1 percent compared to 2009 or from 3.9 million tons in 2009 to 6.2 million tons in 2010.