AIIS: U.S. steel exports, imports decline in September

U.S. steel exports reached 795,318 net tons in September, falling 2 percent from September 2015, while U.S. steel imports totaled 2.74 million net tons, falling nearly 20 percent from last September.    U.S. steel exports and imports were sluggish in September, according to recent data released by the American Institute for International Steel (AIIS).
   During the month, the U.S. exported 795,318 net tons of steel, a 2 percent decline from September 2015.
   Through the first nine months of 2016, U.S. steel exports tumbled 8.5 percent year-over-year to 7.09 million net tons. Exports to Canada and Mexico, the largest buyers of steel from the U.S., declined 4.5 percent and 3.4 percent, respectively, from the first nine months of last year.
   “The Canadian economy has been recovering, growing at a 0.2 percent (actual, not annualized) rate in August, the third straight month of growth,” the AIIS said. “Coming out of a 1.6 percent contraction in the second quarter, though, there may still be a lack of confidence north of the border that is having the ancillary effect of keeping steel use down. Mexico, meanwhile, experienced its slowest quarterly growth in two years from July to September, expanding by 2 percent.
   On the import side, the U.S. shipped 2.74 million net tons of steel in September, a 3.2 percent decline from September 2015.
   For the first nine months of 2016, U.S. steel imports declined nearly 20 percent from the corresponding period last year to 24.77 million net tons.