According to final census data from the US Department of Commerce, US imports of heavy structural shapes (including U, I, H, L, and T section beams) totaled 40,913 mt in January 2021, up 120.6 percent from December and up 11.3 percent from January 2020 levels. By value, beam imports totaled $27.1 million in January 2021, compared to $15.5 million in the previous month and $24.3 million in the same month last year.
The US imported the most beams from UAE in January, with 13,409 mt, compared to zero tonnage in December and virtually zero tonnage (1.4 mt) in January 2020. Other top sources of imported beams in January include Mexico, with 10,824 mt; Korea, with 6,410 mt; Canada, with 5,687 mt; and Germany, with 2,163 mt.