July Foreign Steel Imports Get Boost from Brazil, Korea & Turkey

July imports, which were down 3.5 percent from July 2015, were boosted by a 77 percent increase in imports from Brazil (506,000 net tons, up 22 percent from the previous July), a 20.5 percent gain from South Korea (426,000 net tons, up 39 percent), 17.7 percent growth from Mexico (259,000 net tons, down 24.7 percent), and a 52 percent increase from Turkey (301,000 net tons, up 16.6 percent). Imports from the European Union, though, declined by 13 percent (404,000 net tons, down 23.5 percent from July 2015) and imports from Canada dropped 11.8 percent (445,000 net tons, down 8 percent).

Notwithstanding the July increase, the 18.88 million net tons of imports year to date were 24.5 percent lower than they were through the first seven months of last year. Imports from the European Union fell by a third to 2.61 million net tons, from South Korea by nearly 30 percent to 2.37 million net tons, from Brazil by 20.6 percent to 2.57 million net tons, and from Canada by 4.2 percent to 3.33 million net tons.

Semifinished imports increased 12.4 percent from June to July to 754,000 net tons. Year to date, they were down 22.8 percent at 3.5 million net tons.

From January through July, imports alternated between increases and decreases, with all but one month recording a double-digit change. In this respect, imports are not unlike the United States economy as a whole – unpredictable, and unable to build momentum. In a strong economy, there would be consistently strong imports to support capital investments and other drivers of growth. When the amount of steel coming into the country sputters, it indicates that the nation’s gross domestic product is probably doing the same.