U.S. Imports for Consumption of Steel Products in June 2015

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster):  Steel imports continued to decline in June, falling by 10.3 percent from May and 15.6 percent from a year earlier.

Imports have now decreased for five straight months and seven of the past eight months, and the 3.05 million net tons of imports in June were nearly one-third lower than the total last October.

Imports from Brazil recorded the biggest decline – nearly 29 percent from May and 22 percent from June 2014 to 363,000 net tons. The European Union shipped 477,000 net tons of steel to the United States in June, 23.3 percent less than in May and 25.7 percent less than the previous June. Imports from China fell almost 37 percent from May and 17.5 percent from June 2014 to 191,000 net tons, while Mexico sold 204,000 net tons of steel north of the border, 7.8 percent less than the previous month and about half the amount from the previous June. Some countries recorded increases in June, including Canada – up 13.7 percent from May to 542,000 net tons, roughly the same as in June 2014 – and Japan – up 16.1 percent from the preceding month and 9.3 percent from the preceding June to 259,000 net tons.

Despite the recent trend, year-to-date imports are 2.7 percent higher than they were through the first half of 2014. Most of the United States’ major steel trading partners have increased their shipments to this country, with the exceptions being Mexico, down nearly one-fourth to 1.38 million net tons, and Russia, down by almost 57 percent to 1.01 million net tons. Imports from Canada increased 21.7 percent to 2.99 million net tons, from Brazil 19.5 percent to 2.8 million net tons, and from South Korea 17.1 percent to 3.06 million net tons.

In May 2014, the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) released a report that asserted, according to its title, that “Surging steel imports put up to half a million U.S. jobs at risk.” Since that time, monthly steel imports have fallen by more than 24 percent, and the economic factors that have contributed to the reduced use of steel – most notably, the slowdown in drilling and fracking projects in the energy sector – are regularly cited as reasons for the nation’s economic sluggishness. Moreover, the steel import decline began in October 2014, the starting point for a significant slowdown in the growth of the economy. Taken together, these developments indicate that, notwithstanding the claims of the EPI report and likeminded critics, steel imports are positively correlated with economic growth.

Courtesy: American Institute for International Steel