FACT SHEET

Steel Imports for November 1999 Decrease 9 Percent from October,
Down 29 Percent from November 1998

December 23, 1999

Newly released preliminary government figures covering steel imports for the month of November show that steel imports decreased 9 percent from October levels and are 29 percent below the levels of November 1998.

Total Steel Mill Products

Steel imports remain significantly below last year's surge levels. The preliminary data released today show that overall steel imports in November were 29 percent below November 1998 levels. Overall steel imports in November were 9 percent below October 1999. Looking at the first eleven months of this year, 1999 steel imports are down approximately 16 percent compared to 1998 and are 12 percent above 1997.

Hot-Rolled Steel

November imports of hot-rolled steel increased 24 percent compared to October. Imports of these products, which were the subject of recently completed antidumping and countervailing duty cases, are down 54 percent from last fall's high point, with imports from the three investigated countries (Japan, Russia and Brazil) down 98 percent. Looking at the first eleven months of this year, 1999 hot-rolled steel imports are down approximately 47 percent compared to 1998 and approximately 6 percent below 1997.

Cold-Rolled Steel

November imports of cold-rolled steel decreased less than 1 percent compared to October. November imports of cold-rolled steel, the subject of 13 ongoing antidumping and countervailing duty cases, are down 37 percent compared to November 1998 and 21 percent compared to November 1997. Looking at the first eleven months of this year, 1999 cold-rolled steel imports are down 12 percent compared to 1998 and approximately 8 percent compared to 1997.

Cut-to-Length Plate

November imports of cut-to-length plate, the subject of 11 ongoing antidumping and countervailing duty cases, increased 70 percent compared to October. November 1999 imports of these products are down approximately 68 percent from November 1998 and are up almost 4 percent from November 1997. Looking at the first eleven months of this year, 1999 plate imports are down almost 57 percent compared to 1998 and 36 percent compared to 1997.

Wire Rod

Overall imports of wire rod in November decreased 22 percent compared to October. November 1999 imports of wire rod are up 24 percent compared to November 1998 but are approximately 6 percent below November 1997. Looking at the first eleven months of this year, 1999 imports of wire rod are up approximately 18 percent compared to 1998 and 21 percent compared to 1997. These products are the subject of an ongoing section 201 proceeding.

Heavy Structurals

Overall imports of heavy structurals increased 9 percent compared to October. November 1999 imports of heavy structurals are down 76 percent compared to November 1998 and down 54 percent compared to November 1997. Looking at the first eleven months of this year, 1999 imports of heavy structurals are down 50 percent compared to 1998 and up 38 percent compared to 1997. These products are the subject of current antidumping and countervailing duty investigations.

Semifinished Steel

Overall imports of semifinished steel in November fell 42 percent compared to October. November imports of these products are up 6 percent compared to November 1998 and 54 percent compared to November 1997. Looking at the first eleven months of this year, 1999 imports of semifinished steel are up 21 percent compared to 1998 and 29 percent compared to 1997.

These figures are being provided on an expedited basis and will continue to be released on this schedule each month, consistent with the President's steel action program of August 5, 1999. The data released today are preliminary and are likely to change somewhat between now and the release of the final November statistics next month. December preliminary figures will be released on January 27, 2000.

Note: With last month's release, Census issued revisions to certain country totals within product categories for 1998 and the first six months of 1999. Only individual country totals within certain product categories were affected by these revisions, the grand totals for these product categories were not affected. This revisions have been incorporated into this fact sheet and the accompanying data tables.

Detailed reports containing the 1998 and January to June 1999 revisions are available on the Census Bureau web site (www.census.gov/foreign-trade).

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