According to delayed final census data from the US Department of Commerce, US imports of hot rolled bar totaled 65,275 mt in December 2018, down 33.9 percent from November and down 30.2 percent from December 2017 levels. By value, hot rolled bar imports totaled $62.3 million in December 2018, compared to $92.7 million in the previous month and $84.3 million in the same month of 2017.
The US imported the most hot rolled bar from Canada in December, with 25,655 mt, compared to 31,131 mt in November and 37,142 mt in December 2017. Other top sources of imported hot rolled bar in December include Japan, with 9,120 mt; France, with 6,224 mt; China, with 5,489 mt; Germany, with 5,040 mt; and Czech Republic, with 3,317 mt.
For the full-year 2018, US hot rolled bar imports totaled 1,064,234 mt, down 13.3 percent from 2017 totals. By value, hot rolled bar imports totaled $996.2 million in 2018, compared to $1.00 billion in 2017.