US steel import in December see declining trend
By , 2008-03-08 02:28:20
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Based on preliminary Census Bureau data, the American Iron and Steel Institute reported that the United States imported a total of 1,977,000 net tons of steel in December 2007, including 1,583,000 net tons of finished steel. While full year 2007 total and finished steel imports declined by 27% and 26% respectively against 2006 all time record, total and finished steel imports in 2007 were up by 4% and 5% respectively against 2005 which itself saw elevated import levels.
The three largest suppliers of finished steel from offshore last year were China 4,595,000 net tons down by 14%, South Korea 2,004,000 net tons down by 28% and Japan 1,480,000 net tons down by 13%. While steel imports from China declined modestly in 2007 against 2006, they were double China¡¯s import total in 2005. Imports of line pipe and oil country goods from China each increased by 20% in 2007 against 2006.
Mr Andrew G Sharkey III president & CEO of AISI said that ¡°Steel imports for the full year 2007 ended up relatively high, notwithstanding the decline from the 2006 record and the decelerating overall import levels seen in the second half of the year. China, a non market economy, remains the largest steel exporting nation in the world. Trade and market distorting practices are still pervasive in the global steel sector. Less efficient steel producers in China and elsewhere continue to benefit from large scale subsidies and other artificial competitive advantages. Under these conditions, AISI will closely monitor the steel import situation in 2008, and domestic steel producers will stay vigilant about dumped or subsidized imports of individual products from individual countries
