Sep. 28, 2006 — The United States imported a total of 3,959,000 net tons of steel in August 2006, according to the latest report released by the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI). The total reflects a 7.6% drop from July’s near-record final data.

The report, which is based on preliminary Census Bureau data, show that the total includes 3,135,000 net tons of finished steel, a 9.3% decrease from July’s near-record finished steel import total. Year-to-date (YTD) total and finished steel imports are now up 42% compared to the same period in 2005.

On an annualized basis (based on YTD 2006 imports), total and finished steel imports (at 46.2 and 36.6 million net tons, respectively) would set all-time records — up 44% and 45%, respectively, compared to last year. Key products with large increases in August compared to the month before include cut-to-length plates (+18%) and standard pipe (+14%).

Looking at a 3-month rolling average (monthly average for most recent 3-month period vs. the previous 3-month period), finished steel imports overall are up 4% from a very high monthly average in the March-to-May period. Notable increases include:

• Wire rods (+39%)
• All other metallic coated sheets & strip (+33%)
• Plates in coil (+31%)
• Tinplate (+19%)
• Mechanical Tubing (+11%)

This rising trend remains pronounced for countries with a history of unfair trading, especially in Asia — including Thailand (+95%), China (+47%) and South Korea (+10%). The 3-month rolling average for Russia is up 88% (101% YTD vs. last year). In August, for the second month in a row, China, a non-market economy, was the single largest source of steel imports to the United States (531,000 net tons). Imports from China were 186% higher in August 2006 than in the same month last year and at their present pace, will approach nearly 5 million tons this year.

“The current record import surge is being led by non-market economies, by countries that do not play by the rules and by nations with a history of unfair trading,” said AISI Chairman Louis L. Schorsch, CEO of Mittal Steel’s Flat Products Americas. “This makes strong and strictly enforced U.S. trade laws more essential than ever.”

“Nowhere is this problem more in evidence than in the government of China’s across-the-board provision of WTO-illegal subsidies to steel and other manufacturing industries,” added AISI President and CEO Andrew G. Sharkey III. In recent studies and testimony to the U.S. government, AISI has taken a leading role in urging prompt and decisive action against China’s non-compliance with its WTO obligations.