According to delayed final census data from the US Department of Commerce, US imports of mechanical tubing totaled 38,646 mt in December 2018, down 22.9 percent from November and down 16.5 percent from December 2017. By value, mechanical tubing imports totaled $58.5 million in December 2018, compared to $72.1 million in the previous month and $70.7 million in the same month of 2017.
The US imported the most mechanical tubing from Mexico in December, with 10,341 mt, compared to 8,466 mt in November and 11,538 mt in December 2017. Other top sources of imported mechanical tubing in December include Canada, with 5,192 mt; Germany, with 2,887 mt; India, with 2,471 mt; China, with 2,434 mt; and Japan, with 2,057 mt.
For the full-year 2018, US mechanical tubing imports totaled 595,535 mt, down 1.9 percent from 2017 totals. By value, mechanical tubing imports totaled $899.5 million in 2018, compared to $841.1 million in 2017.