According to preliminary census data from the US Department of Commerce, US imports of oil country tubular goods (OCTG) totaled 187,173 mt in December 2017, down 24.9 percent from November but up 24.4 percent from December 2016 levels. By value, OCTG imports totaled $223.9 million in December 2017, compared to $277.2 million in the previous month and $136.5 million in the same month last year.
The US imported the most OCTG from Korea in December, with 35,959 mt, compared to 63,485 mt in November and 46,588 mt in December 2016. Other top sources of imported OCTG in December include Mexico, with 33,471 mt; Brazil, with 25,883 mt; Argentina, with 17,009 mt; Canada, with 13,593 mt; and Austria, with 12,591 mt.
For the full-year 2017, US OCTG imports totaled 3,084,567 mt, up 199.1 percent from the 1,031,440 mt imported in 2016. By value, US OCTG imports in 2017 totaled $2.97 billion, compared to $1.01 billion in 2016.
The top sources of imported OCTG in 2017 were Korea, with 1,045,356 mt; Mexico, with 425,848 mt; Argentina, with 192,652 mt; Canada, with 183,066 mt; and Brazil, with 154,515 mt.