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 44,172 mt in October 2020, up 47.8 percent from September and up 5.9 percent from October 2019 levels. By value, beam imports totaled $27.9 million in October 2020, compared to $20.7 million in the previous month and $32.8 million in the same month last year.
The US imported the most beams from Korea in October, with 19,083 mt, compared to 10,666 mt in September and 8,359 mt in October 2019. Other top sources of imported beams in October include Mexico, with 12,657 mt; Canada, with 4,413 mt; UAE, with 3,271 mt; and Germany, with 1,451 mt.