According to delayed final census data from the US Department of Commerce, US imports of line pipe totaled 183,818 mt in December 2018, up 12.1 percent from November and up 50.9 percent from December 2017 levels. By value, line pipe imports totaled $216.7 million in December 2018, compared to $179.8 million in the previous month and $120.2 million in the same month last year.
The US imported the most line pipe from Canada in December, with 43,147 mt, compared to 27,585 mt in November and 13,827 mt in December 2017. Other top sources of imported line pipe in December include Turkey, with 32,978 mt; United Kingdom, with 20,261 mt; Mexico, with 14,831 mt; Greece, with 14,261 mt; and Germany, with 8,989 mt.
For the full-year 2018, US line pipe imports totaled 1,979,748 mt, down 1.6 percent from 2017 totals. By value, line pipe imports totaled $2.09 billion, compared to $1.77 billion in 2017.