U.S. steel exports continue decline in December

U.S. steel exports dropped 2.6 percent from November to December, capping off a 5 percent decline for the year.    U.S. steel exports dropped 2.6 percent from November to December, topping off a 5 percent decline for the year, according to the American Institute for International Steel. 
   AIIS attributed the December largely to decreases in U.S. steel exports to Canada and Mexico.
   Exports to Canada dropped 2 percent to 469,939 net tons, while exports to Mexico fell 4.5 percent to 334,968 net tons, AIIS said. 
   Meanwhile, U.S. steel exports to the European Union, the third-largest buyer of American steel, increased 11.4 percent to 24,223 net tons, 17.5 percent more than in December 2013. Exports to Brazil jumped nearly nine-fold to 18,889 net tons, more than 4.5 times the total from a year earlier.
   AIIS said Canada’s 6.39 million net tons of steel purchases accounted for more than half of the 12.04 million net tons of U.S. steel exports in 2014, and exports to Mexico last year increased 3.4 percent to 4.17 million net tons. The European Union reduced its purchases of American steel by 9.5 percent to 334,457 net tons, while Brazil increased its total by more than 15 percent to 103,930 net tons. Exports to China also increased by about 15 percent to 111,149 net tons.
   “Considering the declining economic conditions in many parts of the world, we might have seen a larger reduction in steel exports last year than the 5 percent reduction we actually saw. Even as the U.S. enjoyed relatively stronger growth for much of 2014, many other nations struggled, which surely decreased their demand for steel,” AIIS said.