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 50,062 mt in August 2019, up 3.3 percent from July and up 50.7 percent from August 2018 levels. By value, beam imports totaled $36.6 million in August 2019, compared to $34.9 million in the previous month and $26.2 million in the same month last year.
The US imported the most beams from Korea in August, with 16,600 mt, compared to 8,827 mt in July and 8,228 mt in August 2018. Other top sources of imported beam in August include Mexico, with 11,527 mt; UAE, with 4,854mt; Canada, with 4,044 mt; and Luxembourg, with 3,674 mt.