According to preliminary census data from the US Department of Commerce, US imports of heavy structural shapes (including U, I, H, L, and T section beams) totaled 48,659 mt in December 2017, up 40.1 percent from November but down 6.7 percent from December 2016 levels. By value, beam imports totaled $34.8 million in December 2017, compared to $29.1 million in the previous month and $32.4 million in the same month last year.
The US imported the most beams from Korea in December, with 12,557 mt, compared to 5,253 mt in November 2017 and 3,922 mt December 2016. Other top sources of imported beams in December include Mexico, with 8,380 mt; Spain, with 6,389 mt; Canada, with 4,968 mt; Luxembourg, with 4,516 mt; and United Kingdom, with 4,208 mt.
For the full-year 2017, US beam imports totaled 778,987 mt, down 1.7 percent from the 792,189 mt imported in 2016. By value, US beam imports in 2017 totaled $519.2 million, compared to $478.2 million in 2016.
The top sources of imported beams in 2017 were Korea, with 158,918 mt; Luxembourg, with 127,524 mt; Mexico, with 122,158 mt; Spain, with 105,127 mt; and United Kingdom, with 69,510 mt.