According to delayed final census data from the US Department of Commerce, US imports of cold rolled sheets totaled 127,084 mt in December 2018, down 3.9 percent from November and down 21.7 percent from December 2017 levels. By value, CRC imports totaled $106.5 million in December 2018, compared to $114.9 million in the previous month and $120.4 million in the same month last year.
The US imported the most CRC from Vietnam in December, with 32,521 mt, compared to 25,748 mt in November and 15,618 mt in December 2017. Other top sources of imported CRC in December include Mexico, with 22,700 mt; Canada, with 18,315 mt; Australia, with 14,111 mt; United Kingdom, with 8,258 mt; and Sweden, with 6,047 mt.
For the full-year 2018, US CRC imports totaled 1,784,267 mt, down 24.0 percent from 2017 totals. By value, CRC imports totaled $1.49 billion in 2018, compared to $1.74 billion in 2017.