News from AIIS: April 2016 Steel Exports

The 794,537 net tons of exports were almost 6 percent lower than the April 2015 total. Exports to Mexico grew by 5.4 percent to 305,054 net tons – 8.1 percent less than a year earlier – while exports to Canada expanded by 2.4 percent to 410,341 net tons – less than 1 percent higher than the previous April. Steel sales to members of the European Union fell 7.2 percent from April and 37.4 percent from a year earlier to 18,673 net tons.

Through the first four months of the year, steel exports were down 11.7 percent compared to the same time in 2015 at 3.13 million net tons. With Canada’s economy coming off a dismal 2015, year-to-date exports to that country were down 7.2 percent at 1.6 million net tons. And exports to Mexico, though that nation has had a stronger economy recently, were 14 percent lower at 1.19 million net tons. Exports to the European Union through the first third of the year fell by nearly half to 75,555 net tons.

Growth in Canada during the first quarter came in at an annualized rate of 2.4 percent – not terrible, but also not equal to the 2.9 percent that had been forecast. And on a monthly basis, only January recorded positive growth during the quarter. In Mexico, meanwhile, growth has been fairly steady recently, despite challenges created by low oil prices. The 2016 forecast appears to be brighter for Mexico, but the Canadian dollar has gained some value against the U.S. dollar since late 2015, while the Mexican peso has remained at historic lows, boosting American exports to our northern neighbor.