According to delayed 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 31,973 mt in December 2018, up 19.6 percent from November but down 34.3 percent from December 2017. By value, beam imports totaled $26.3 million in December 2018, compared to $20.2 million in the previous month and $34.8 million in the same month of 2017.
The US imported the most beams from Luxembourg in December, with 6,999 mt, compared to 3,315 mt in November and 4,516 mt in December 2017. Other top sources of imported beams in December include Mexico, with 5,959 mt; Korea, with 5,358 mt; Canada, with 3,540 mt; Japan, with 3,392 mt; and United Kingdom, with 3,345 mt.
For the full-year 2018, US beam imports totaled 515,201 mt, down 33.9 percent from 2017 totals. By value, beam imports totaled $386.2 million in 2018, compared to $519.2 million in 2017.