According to preliminary census data from the US Department of Commerce, US imports of hot rolled bar totaled 93,454 mt in December 2017, down 25.8 percent from November and down 7.9 percent from December 2016 levels. By value, hot rolled bar imports totaled $84.3 million in December 2017, compared to $108.7 million in the previous month and $77.8 million in the same month last year.
The US imported the most hot rolled bar from Canada in December, with 37,142 mt, compared to 43,465 mt in November and 34,273 mt in December 2016. Other top sources of imported hot rolled bar in December include Japan, with 13,120 mt; France, with 10,601 mt; China, with 6,455 mt; Germany, with 4,601 mt; and United Kingdom, with 3,403 mt.
For the full-year 2017, US hot rolled bar imports totaled 1,227,193 mt, up 17.8 percent from the 1,041,609 mt imported in 2016. By value, US hot rolled bar imports in 2017 totaled $1.00 billion, compared to $830.1 million in 2016.
The top sources of imported hot rolled bar in 2017 were Canada, with 446,853 mt; Japan, with 197,922 mt; Turkey, with 90,381 mt; Germany, with 88,365 mt; and France, with 81,483 mt.