U.S. steel imports see mixed October results

The United States imported 2.99 million net tons of steel in October, 5.4 percent higher from September, but nearly one-third lower from Oct. 2014.    The United States imported 2.99 million net tons of steel in October, a decrease of nearly one-third from Oct. 2014, according to preliminary data from the U.S. Census Bureau, the American Institute for International Steel (AIIS) said.
   Although U.S. steel imports in October declined significantly year-over-year, they were 5.4 percent higher month-over-month, which was encouraging after August and September saw month-over-month drops of 8.2 percent and 9.4 percent, respectively.
   The U.S. imported 576,000 net tons of steel from Brazil in October. Steel imports from other major trading partners during the month included 445,000 net tons from Canada, 367,000 net tons from the European Union, 354,000 net tons from South Korea, 246,000 net tons from Mexico and 170,000 net tons from Japan.
   Overall, the United States imported 33.89 million net tons of steel throughout the first 10 months of 2015, an 8.4 percent drop from the corresponding period in 2014.
   During the first 10 months of 2015, steel imports from Russia fell 54 percent year-over-year to 1.85 million net tons, which accounted for over two-thirds of the tonnage decline throughout the first 10 months of the year, the AIIS said.
   “October’s increase in imports is mildly encouraging, especially given the numbers from the two preceding months, but steel spending still has a long way to go before it catches up with the totals from a year ago, a time when, not coincidentally, both steel imports and economic growth were peaking,” the AIIS said.