U.S. steel exports dip slightly in December

The United States exported 726,848 net tons of steel in December, a 0.3 percent decrease from the previous month and a 0.2 percent increase from a year earlier, according to American Institute for International Steel.    The United States exported 726,848 net tons of steel in December, a 0.3 percent decrease from the previous month and a 0.2 percent increase from a year earlier, according to American Institute for International Steel (AIIS).
   Exports to Canada dropped 9.5 percent month-to-month to 332,151 net tons, 4.8 percent less than the December 2015 total, while exports to Mexico increased almost 5 percent, compared to both the previous month and to December 2015, to 306,835 net tons.
   AIIS also reported that exports to the European Union increased 57.5 percent from November and 74.5 percent from a year earlier to 30,676 net tons.
   For all of 2016, U.S. steel exports declined 6.6 percent to 9.31 million net tons, the trade association said.
   “Given the state of the global economy, in general, and the economies of Canada and Mexico, in particular, in 2016, it is not surprising that steel exports decreased. And the prospects for 2017 are not great,” AIIS said.