US steel imports on the rise

The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) reported that, according to preliminary Census Bureau data for January, the United States is importing an increasing amount of steel. In January 2006, the US imported a total of 3'145'000 nt of steel, including 2'349'000 nt of finished steel. The total amount of steel imported in January 2006 was 7.7 percent higher than the amount of imports in December 2005 and 9.2 percent higher than the amount of imports in January 2005. The total amount of finished steel imported in January 2006 was 7.1 percent higher than that of December 2005, and 8.6 percent higher than the total amount of finished steel imports in January 2005. According to AISI, comparing the most recent three month period to the previous three month period, the trend shows that finished steel imports are up a total of 11.5 percent. The import trend from certain countries is even higher: finished steel imports from Turkey are up by 141 percent; Taiwan imports are up by 94 percent; India imports are up by 88 percent; China imports are up by 38 percent; and South Korea imports up by 31 percent. The products with the largest amount of increases in January compared to the month before are: wire rods, up by 107 percent; all other metallic coated sheet & strip, up by 31 percent; bars and light shapes, up by 23 percent; structural pipe & tubing, up by 22 percent; and oil country tubular goods, up by 15 percent. John P Surma, Chairman and CEO of United States Steel Corporation and chairman of AISI, commented: "The increase in imports in January comes on the heels of already high import levels in 2005. Given the growing challenges faced by US manufacturers from increased imports and foreign unfair trade practices, we plan to play an active role in the fight to reduce the trade deficit, get serious about dealing with market distorting practices in China and elsewhere, and, most importantly, ensure that US trade laws are not weakened in ongoing international negotiations."