U.S. steel exports up 2% in March

Steel exports increased to 896,027 net tons in March, 2 percent higher than in February, but 13.8 percent less than the same period last year, AIIS said.    U.S. steel exports showed a slight increase to 896,027 net tons in March, 2 percent higher than in February, but 13.8 percent less than the same period last year, according to the American Institute for International Steel. 
   Exports to Canada and Mexico increased 4.2 percent to 423,426 net tons and 2.9 percent to 361,265 net tons from February, respectively. These totals were 24.8 percent less and 4.9 percent more than the previous March, AIIS noted. 
   “Nearly two-thirds of those monthly gains were offset by a 36 percent drop in exports to the European Union, which bought 31,056 net tons of steel from the United States in March. Despite the drop, the March total was 3.4 percent higher than it was a year earlier. The only other trading partner with even a five-figure total was China, which received 10,644 net tons of exports, 45.5 percent more than in February and nearly the same as the March 2014 total,” the trade group explained. 
   Through the first three months of 2015, U.S. steel exports were down 7.1 percent compared to 2014 at 2.7 million net tons, with Canada leading the decline at year-to-date exports to that country decreasing 16.6 percent to 1.31 million net tons. U.S. exports to Mexico over the period grew 7 percent to 1.05 million net tons, and exports to the European Union have risen 38.2 percent to 111,202 net tons.
   “The drop in exports from 2014 to 2015 is unsurprising, given that the U.S. dollar is significantly stronger now than it was a year ago,” AIIS said. “An expensive dollar, combined with stagnant or weak economic activity in much of the world, appears to leave little room for optimism on the part of exporters for the rest of 2015.”