In US, 2006 to be a record year for steel imports

The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) reported today that the US imported a total of 3,823,000 net tons (nt) of steel in October 2006, down 2.0 percent from September. Year-to-date (YTD) as of the end of October 2006, total steel imports are up 45 percent from the same period of 2005 The total amount of finished steel imports to the US in October totaled 3,082,000 nt, down 0.9 percent from September. YTD imports of finished steel as of October 2006 were up 46 percent from the same period of the previous year. On an annualized basis, based on YTD imports of both total and finished steel as of October 2006, all-time records would be set in both categories, surpassing the previous record of 46.5 million nt total steel imports in 1998, and 34.7 million nt finished steel imports in 1998. The products which registered large increases in October 2006 from the month before were: steel piling, line pipe, OCTG, sheets, strip, and plates in coils. YTD October 2006, the following countries registered the largest increases in steel exports to the US from the previous year: Thailand (up 165 percent), China (up 125 percent), Russia (up 106 percent), and South Korea (up 61 percent).