March 23, 2000

Newly released preliminary government figures covering steel imports for the month of February show that steel imports increased 10 percent from January 2000 levels.

Total Steel Mill Products

The preliminary data released today show that overall steel imports in February 2000 rose 10 percent compared to January 2000 while imports of finished steel products rose 14 percent. Imports of overall steel mill products during the first 2 months of 2000 rose 29 percent compared to the same period in 1999, primarily due to 125 percent increase in imports of semifinished steel products. In comparison, imports of finished steel products during the first 2 months of 2000 increased 10 percent compared to the same period in 1999.

Hot-Rolled Steel

February 2000 imports of hot-rolled steel, which were the subject of recently completed antidumping and countervailing duty cases, rose 37 percent compared to January 2000 with the largest increases coming from Korea, India, Australia and Romania. Imports of these products during the first 2 months of 2000 are up 64 percent compared to the same period in 1999.

Cold-Rolled Steel

February 2000 imports of cold-rolled steel, the subject of 6 ongoing antidumping and countervailing duty cases, rose 53 percent compared to January 2000. Imports of these products during the first 2 months of 2000 are down 31 percent compared to the same period in 1999. Recently the ITC found that imports of these products from Argentina, Brazil, Japan, Russia, South Africa and Thailand did not injure the U.S. industry.

Cut-to-Length Plate

February 2000 imports of cut-to-length plate, the subject of 11 ongoing antidumping and countervailing duty cases, fell 25 percent compared to January 2000. Imports of these products during the first 2 months of 2000 are down 45 percent compared to the same period in 1999.

February 2000 imports of wire rod, the subject of a recently completed section 201 proceeding, rose 8 percent compared to January 2000. Imports of these products during the first 2 months of 2000 are up 21 percent compared to the same period in 1999.

Heavy Structurals

February 2000 imports of heavy structurals fell 7 percent compared to January 2000. Imports of these products during the first 2 months of 2000 are down 45 percent compared to the same period in 1999. These products are the subject of current antidumping and countervailing duty investigations.

Semifinished Steel

February 2000 imports of semifinished steel decreased 2 percent compared to January 2000. Imports of these products during the first 2 months of 2000 are up 125 percent compared to the same period in 1999.

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 February statistics next month. March preliminary figures will be released on April 20, 2000.

Note: With November 1999'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. These 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.