According to preliminary census data from the US Department of Commerce, US imports of hot dipped galvanized sheets and strip totaled 188,855 mt in December 2017, down 18.9 percent from November and down 32.1 percent from December 2016 levels. By value, HDG imports totaled $171.8 million in December 2017, compared to $210.5 million in the previous month and $230.2 million in the same month last year.
The US imported the most HDG from Canada in December, with 65,903 mt, compared to 83,268 mt in November and 65,301 mt in December 2016. Other top sources of imported HDG in December include Brazil, with 14,554 mt; South Africa, with 10,579 mt; Turkey, with 9,622 mt; Korea, with 9,300 mt; and Russia, with 8,850 mt.
For the full-year 2017, US HDG imports totaled 3,103,635 mt, up 10.4 percent from the 2,810,517 mt imported in 2016. By value, US HDG imports in 2017 totaled $2.74 billion, compared to $2.16 billion in 2016.
The top sources of imported HDG in 2017 were Canada, with 903,753 mt; Turkey, with 287,541 mt; Brazil, with 234,527 mt; Taiwan, with 212,367 mt; and Korea, with 191,959 mt.