According to preliminary census data from the US Department of Commerce, US imports of cold rolled sheet totaled 162,388 mt in December 2017, up 10.3 percent from November but down 5.8 percent from December 2016 levels. By value, CRC imports totaled $120.4 million in December 2017, compared to $118.9 million in the previous month and $126.9 million in the same month last year.
The US imported the most CRC from Canada in December, with 25,204 mt, compared to 28,569 mt in November and 23,754 mt in December 2016. Other top sources of imported CRC in December include Turkey, with 21,858 mt; Mexico, with 17,727 mt; Australia, with 17,191 mt; Russia, with 16,380 mt; and Vietnam, with 15,618 mt.
For the full-year 2017, US CRC imports totaled 2,474,225 mt, up 23.9 percent from the 1,997,729 mt imported in 2016. By value, US CRC imports in 2017 totaled $1.75 billion, compared to $1.35 billion in 2016.
The top sources of imported CRC in 2017 were Turkey, with 345,331 mt; Canada, with 339,834 mt; Russia, with 338,062 mt; Mexico, with 220,447 mt; and Australia, with 197,144 mt.